A Doctor By Any Other Name
by Aerilyn
Summary: When the TARDIS latches onto an unknown signal, the Doctor and Rose once again find themselves in a parallel dimension. Only this time the parallel dimension has its own Doctor, as well as its own temptations for the Doctor and Rose...
1. The Unknown Signal

_*Disclaimer* I do not own anything in the Doctor Who universe. Also, as you may all know in the episode "Doomsday" Rose gets separated from the Doctor forever as she is trapped in a parallel dimension. Well for the purposes of my story, the Doctor saves her and she is not trapped in the parallel dimension. Also-my Doctor for this story is David Tennant, also known as Ten._

"That's just the thing with you Rose Tyler-you go on these little adventures with the Doctor and all of the sudden you have no more time for me..." Jackie Tyler followed Rose through the flat as her blonde daughter picked up thins here and there.

"Mum-we have this same discussion everytime I come home." Rose laughed, picking up a dark green sweater from a neatly folded pile on the couch and stuffing in into her black duffel bag.

"Yeah but it isn't like you're coming home from university on holidays Rose-you're coming from-" Jackie struggled, not sure what word to use, "Mars, or somewhere like that."

"We've never been to Mars, Jackie. How human of you-tens of millions of galaxies out there, and your brain comes up with Mars." The Doctor poked his head into the living room, interupting their conversation. "Hurry up now Rose-so many things to do!"

He walked into the living room, hands in his pockets. "I was thinking we could go to the planet of Compendio-it's a whole planet run by dogs! Just think of it-they might put you on a leash and make you fetch their morning paper!"

"I just wish you'd come home more often, or at least stay a bit longer." Jackie brushed past the Doctor, standing over Rose as she struggled to zip the bulging bag. "You come home every few weeks, and stay an hour or so, then you are off again."

With one hard yank she finally drug the zipper across. She heaved the bag off the couch, nearly dragging it toward the door. "A planet run by dogs-how do they do anything without thumbs?"

"Awww-who needs thumbs when you have telekenesis? They do everything by mind, those dogs. Puts your mutts to shame down here they do," The Doctor answered.

"Fine-ignore me then Rose Tyler, but one of these days your gonna come home with your little Doctor and I'm not gonna be here-then you'll wish you had come and seen me more often!" Jacke crossed her arms to her chest, turning around to sulk into the kitchen.

"Oh mum-" Rose dropped her bag and grabbed her mother around the shoulders, pulling her back. She wrapped her arms around her mother, holding her tightly. "Mum you know I love you-we come when we can, but sometimes it's not possible to get back as quick as we'd like-"

Rose was interrupted as the door to the flat slammed shut. "I didn't miss them this time, did I?" Mickey Smith heaved into the living room, nearly collapsing onto the couch. He had runn the whole way here, afraid that they would leave without him getting to tell them goodbye.

"Mickey!" The Doctor exclaimed his name as he slapped him on the back, nearly knocking him over. Rose dislodged from her mother, turning to hook an arm around Mickey's neck and pull him toward her. "You know we wouldn't have left without telling you goodbye."

"You did last time..."Mickey was stiff a bit perturbed about last time, but that didn't stop him from wrapping his arms around Rose's waist, a bit of a smile on his lips as his eyes cut to the Doctor.

The Doctor reached behind his head to scratch at the back of his neck, shrugging as he knew Mickey's comment was intended for him. "Wellll...I suppose last time we were in a bit of a hurry..." His head turned toward the window. He noticed the sky was growing darker, and he spoke to Rose.

"Come on Rose-gotta get going if we're ever going to leave here. The longer we stay the more I fear your mother is going is going to barricade the door-"

"Hey!" Jackie swiped at him, knicking him on the shoulder. "It isn'y my fault you only come home for a visit every few months."

The Doctor picked up Rose's bag from the door way, then looked over his shoulder at Jackie. "If I promise to try and have her home more often will you please let us be on our way?"

Jackie threw her hands in the air, defeated. "Fine then-the two of you get going." She walked beside Rose to the front door, Mickey leaning in the door frame behind her. Rose took a step out onto the stoop, only to be grabbed by her mother one last time.

"Be safe-and don't forget about your mum back here on boring old Earth." Jackie grabbed her daughter in a final embrace, then called out to the Doctor, who was already standing out on the street waiting for Rose with her bag in hand. "And I guess you be safe too-trust you take care of my daughter, now!"

"I always do Jackie!" The Doctor shouted back at her, a smile on his face. Despite his earlier experiences with Jackie Tyler, the Doctor knew she loved Rose more than anything. He also knew that Jackie had taken the leap of faith to entrust him with her daughter-which was a responsibility he didn't take lightly. He would always bring Rose Tyler back, in one piece.

Rose kissed Mickey lightly on the cheek, a small peck, then turned and walked down the steps. The Doctor shifted her bag to his other hand, holding out his free one. Rose entangled her fingers with his, and together they walked down the street.

As they neared the end of the street, Rose caught their reflection in a shop window. The Doctor looked no different than many of the humans here-a head with dark hair, two eyes, a nose, two hands, two legs, two feet-he could pass as human to any bloke walking down the street that night. But he wasn't human-not nearly. He was the last of his kind-an alien race from the planet Gallifrey, called the Time Lords. His kind had been wiped out in the Time War-only he had survived. No family...except for her, Jackie, and Mickey.

They turned the corner into an alley, dark except for the couple of street lights on either side. Her heart jumped a bit as her eyes scraped agaisnt the form of a familiar blue police box. To any other it would appear odd, but for her it was like home.

"Did you mean what you said to my mother? About promising to come home more often?" For some reason her mind had wandered back to the Doctor's words.

He nodded. "Your mum is right Rose-she's your mother, after all, and you spend much more time with an alien time traveler than you do with your own family. I'll try to get you back more often."

He opened the door to the TARDIS, moving a step back so Rose could step in. It was funny-Rose had spent so much time in that blue box that was bigger on the inside, yet it still felt new everytime she stepped through the doors. She sat on their stairs, wrapping her fingers around the railing as she watched the Doctor press a multitude of buttons.

"So have we made the final decision on Compedio yet?" The Doctor called to her, craning his neck so that he could see her past the controls.

Rose hadn't meant to ask the Doctor the next question. Her reply should have been a simple yes, then they could have been on their way to Compendio, to see the dogs with teleketic powers. But instead her mind had wandered to other things, which was somewhat dangerous for Rose Tyler.

"Do you miss your family, Doctor?"

There was a few moments of silence. "Yes I suppose," was the answer she heard from the other side of the control, although she couldn't see the Doctor. His tone wwas not of one that was emotional about his family, but a straight forward answer.

She stood on the bottom step, staring down at her fingers that were still wrapped around the railing. "It's just...you never talk about them. What were they like?"

Rose still couldn't see the Doctor, but he had braced his hand on the circular railing around the TARDIS controls, staring down at the floor. He licked his lips, then cleared his throat. "They were...fine Rose. Just like any other family."

"Just fine? Were you married-did you have any brothers or sisters?"

"I'd rather not talk about it Rose." The Doctor's tone was curt as he slid his glasses onto his face to study the monitor above his head. He almost got angry just at the mere mention of his family.

Rose stepped off the bottom stair and walked across the floor, towards the Doctor. She leaned beside him on the railing, tucking a stray strand of blonde behind her ear as she looked at him, her voice growing soft. "You know Doctor-it's better that we talk about the things that make us sad. Easier to deal with them-"

"No Rose-that is a stupid idea that humans like you came up with." The Doctor growled at her as he pushed himself off the railing and went to the other side of the controls.

Rose was quiet a minute, trying to think of what to say next. "I know how you feel, Doctor. It's heartbreaking, not seeing your family..."

"How human of you Rose-trying to understand me. Well just stop it! You can't begin to understand me-the things I've done, the things I've seen." The Doctor moved to a few feet from Rose, glaring at her. "You get to come home to your family Rose-granted, not as often as we like, I'll give you that. But you get to come home to them. My whole planet was destroyed-I don't get to come home to anything! You think about that the next time you try comparing your situation to mine!"

With those words the Doctor pulled on a lever that was beside him, and the TARDIS began to shake. "We're going to Compendio Rose-and we're not going to speak until we get there." The Doctor knew he was losing it-he didn't want to lash out at her-that was the last thing he wanted to do. If he could only get some peace for a few minutes, his anger would fade...

But of course Rose wasn't going to give him any peace. "You are not my dad, and you will not tell me when to speak!" She was screaming now-his words fueling her anger. "You keep everyone out-the Doctor, all in his little bubble of sorrow that no one can penetrate! No one can possibly understand-when I try to, you shut me out!"

"Maybe I shut you out because it is none of your concern-I had a family once Rose, and now I don't anymore! What is the point of your useless questions-you compain about Jackie and yet you are just like her!"

Rose gasped, taking a step back in surprise, her tone lowering. "Well excuse me-I thought we were your family now...mum, Mickey...me. Seems the Doctor fooled me yet again."

What came out of the Doctor's mouth next-he knew he shouldn't have said. And had he been thinking clearly, he would never have said it. But he wasn't thinking clearly.

"My family? Rose do you know how many like you I've travelled with-countless. And they are all the same-they all travel with me thinking that they are the special one that can figure the old Doctor out. They think they'll be the one to crack my shell-but they don't Rose. And you're no different from the rest of them-I have no family Rose. You are a travelling mate. No more, and no less!"

Rose told herself she wouldn't do it-but it happened anyway. Tears began to stream down her face as she stood for a moment, just looking at him. "Is that how you feel then? Then why did you choose me? Out of all the hundreds of people you could have asked to travel with you, why was it me?"

The Doctor shrugged, looking up for a moment before his eyes met hers. "I don't know Rose-maybe because when my TARDIS landed on Earth that day, you were the closest human."

Of course he didn't mean that.

"Okay-I have just one more question, then I'll hush." She wasn't screaming or raising her voice. She was speaking calmly, almost as if she was in shock, which in a way she was. "If it was possible, would you leave me and go back to Gallifrey? Forget everything that we've been through...like it was a dream?"

The Doctor chuckled as he placed his hands on the railing once more. "Rose Tyler, such a silly little girl. I think you already know the answer to that one, now don't you?"

Rose wiped her face her sleeve, smearing her makeup across her face as she nodded. She turned to face the wall, not wanting to look at him. She cared so much for this man, yet to him she was one of hundreds of travelling companions that he could just leave on a whim if something better came along.

She rested her head on the wall, listening as the Doctor pushed more buttons. She was a button, just like on the TARDIS-one of thousands that he just pushed without giving it a second thought.

She was so caught up in trying to amke her tears stop, that she didn't notice when the Doctor stopped pressing the buttons. He craned his neck once more to look at her, rolling his eyes. Of course he hadn't meant any of what he just said to her-and of course she had taken it all to heart. He opened his mouth, about to say something to her, when all of a sudden the TARDIS jerked unexpectedly.

Rose twirled around, her face almost free of tears. "What was that?"

"Not sure-could just be some outside turbulence-" the Doctor was sudenly forced backwards as the TARDIS jerked a second time with enough force to throw him against the wall. "Oay-that definitely was not outside turbulence!" He yelled out as he scrambed to his feet. He grabbed the railings of the TARDIS controls and looked up at his screen, his eyes suddenly growling wide.

Rose shouted as the TARDIS jerked a third time, but she held fast on the other side of the circular railing. "What is it, Doctor?"

"The TARDIS-she has latched onto to a pretty strong signal, and now she's taking us off course! Hold on Rose-I'm not exactly sure where we'll end up!" The Doctor squatted down, careful to hold on to the railing.

The Doctor would never believe where he would be when at last the TARDIS landed...


	2. A Home That Wasn't Home

Together the Doctor and Rose waited, feeling the TARDIS hurdling them towards an unknown destination._ What in the world can have a singal that strong? _The Doctor thought to himself. The TARDIS wouldn't just stray from her course for a normal strength wave passing through-the universe was literally filled with billions of different waves, and yet none of them had managed to deter the TARDIS before.

The Doctor hadn't even felt the TARDIS stop, until Rose stood to her feet. She walked past him, a bit nervous of what she would find outside of those doors. She lifted her hand to rest it on the doorway, about to open the door when the Doctor was finally jarred from his thoughts.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, his eyes not even looking at her. "No Rose...let me go first..." He spoke slowly-there was no telling where they were. He could open those doors and there be a giant dinosaur staring them in the face for all he knew. Rose nodded, taking a couple of steps back as she pulled the zipper all the way up on her jacket. For some odd reason, she was starting to get a bilt chilly.

The Doctor pushed the doors open just a bit, enough to peer out, then without warning he shoved the door the rest of the way open, leaning in the doorway. He looked around, almost confused for the moment at what he saw. "Hmmm...that's a bit odd..."

"What? What is it? What's out there?" Rose stood on the tips of her toes, trying to glance over the Doctor to see what he found odd.

"It's...South London..." Even as the Doctor said it, he didn't seem too sure of what he was looking at was really South London.

"What? The TARDIS brought us back home?" Rose pushed her way past the Doctor, steppig just past the doors. "We're home-why would it bring us back home?"

"Oh I wouldn't say it brought us _back_ home just yet, Rose." As the Doctor spoke he pulled something out of his front pocket, switching it on. Rose turned to say something to him, but he silenced her by holding up his hands. He was picking up something...

He moved the sonic screwdriver back and forth slowly, then up and down, almost as if he was trying to draw on the wind with a magical crayon. Only this was no crayon, but a niftly little device that had come in handy thousands of time.

"Just as I thought," he suddenly spoke without warning, flipping the sonic screwdriver around in his hand and dropping it back in his pocket, "This is not home, but another version of what home could be."

Now Rose was the one confused. "What do mean "another version?"

"Oh come on Rose-you couldn't have forgotten already? We're in a parallel dimension-yet again." The Doctor spoke energetically as he raised his hands and spun around, as if he was simply in some showroom selling cars.

"But you said travelling to parallel dimensions was impossible! And you closed it off last time we were here-how did we get back?"

"Yes-and yet here we are, having slipped through twice to two separate ones! Gotta admit-that's pretty good." The Doctor laughed as he ran his hands through his hair, spinning around once more to look at everything. Oh it looked so much like Rose's home, yet he knew it wasn't.

"Wait-this is a seperate dimension?" She grabbed his arm and turned him to face her. "How many of these parallel worlds are there Doctor?"

"Oh, countless. Think of the universe as a filing cabinet, with hundreds of files all stacked up beside each other. Each file is a parallel world, and each file is separate from the others, but they are all there, brushing up against each other. Your world is but one of many hundreds of files, Rose Tyler." The Doctor flashed her a grin, then reached into his pocket to pull the sonic screwdriver out yet again.

"Well nothing looks any different-how do you know we're not just back home?"

The Doctor hed up his sonic screwdriver and wiggled it in the air in front of her. "Always trust the screwdriver. Now...the trick here is to find the source of the signal. The signal was strong enough to exit this dimension and enter another, but it was also strong enough to pull the TARDIS here, which as we know is impossible, don't we?" The Doctor stole a glance at her as he moved the screwdriver in a straight course, watching it closely. But this time the readings were much weaker...

Rose pulled her hood over her head, looking up at the familiar buildings all around her. It was a strange feeling-they had just left there, and here they were, back again. "So that means...the things in this world are different than the last parallel world..."

The Doctor suddenly looked at her, becoming still. He knew what she was thinking before she even finished her sentence. "No Rose-not this time. As bizarre and somewhat exciting as this is, we're not supposed to be here. We have just left a gaping hole in the universe-our job is to find the source of the signal, then find a way out." He was referring to the last time they had unknowingly entered a parallel world-he almost lost Rose, and he was determined that this time would be different.

"I just think it would be easier if we spilt up-we could cover more ground and it would be faster." She spoke without turning back to look at him as she stared up at the buildings. Rose really wasn't planning to do what she did last time-search out her father or her mother. She had quite learned her lesson. She really just wanted to be by herself for a little while. Despite being brought here by the TARDIS, her argument with the Doctor still resonated in her mind. She could hear his words echoing in her mind on an instant loop-like music on repeat.

The Doctor was about to argue with her, but then flashes of what had just happened in the TARDIS struck him, and he realized he hadn't said what he had planned to say. He reached out and grabbed her hand gently with his free one. "Rose, I-"

She ripped her hand away from his, cradling it in her other hand as if she had just recieved an electrical shock. She looked at him in silence for a moment or two, backing up a few paces. "Please it's just-I-just give me a little time to myself. I'm okay-I promise I won't get into any trouble. I'll search for this signal this way." She crossed her arms, looking at the ground for a moment before meeting his eyes again. "And then we'll meet back at the TARDIS in two hours."

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak. His first instinct was to protest-but this time he would let her have her way. There was no point in fighting, not at this time. He just nodded, holding his hands in front of him. "Fine Rose-back at the TARDIS in two hours."

She nodded, attempting a smile as she turned her back to him to walk down the street. The Doctor didn't move quite yet-he rested his eyes on her as she got further away. He wasn't worried about her being able to locate the signal-she had flown in the TARDIS long enough. If she stumbled across it, she would be able to tell what it was, if only faintly.

She disappeared as she turned the corner towards the end of the street, and the Doctor turned away as well, toward the other end. He tried to assure himself she would be alright-she had her phone if she got into any kind of trouble, and Rose Tyler was no ordinary human girl. She could handle anything that came her way. Jackie thought that her daughter needed him to protect her, but the truth of the matter was that she had saved his life on more than one occassion.

The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pocket as he walked down the street, his mind turning back to the signal. What could possible be strong enough to pull the TARDIS out of its own dimension? Not many things-except maybe one...but that was impossible, wasn't it? No, no, no-absolutely ridiculous. It couldn't be that...could it?

"Stop that man!" Don't let him pass!" The sound of yelling brushed past his ears, causing him to whirl around. For a moment he thought the voice was referring to him-that is until he saw a masked man running his way.

"Grab him-grab him now!" The voice that was yelling belonged to another man who was running in the distance, obviously in pursuit of the masked man. But he looked very, very familiar as his form got closer and closer.

Suddenly realization struck the Doctor like a bolt of lightening as the masked man and his familiar pursuer closed the distance between themselves and the Doctor and he spoke quietly to himself, half in realization and half in confusion.

"It can't be...Captain Jack Harkness?"


	3. The Return of Captain Jack

"As Captain Jack Harkness of the 51st Agency of Proclomation Enforcement, I command that you seize that man right now!" He screamed at the Doctor.

"Alright-no need to shout..." The Doctor called, a bit perturbed as the man was nearly on top of him. The Doctor moved just a hair to the left, knocking his foot out to catch the heel of the masked' man's boot.

Well, at least that was what he had hoped to do. Turned out the masked man had other plans.

He spun around quickly, grabbing the Doctor from behind. With lightening quick speed he reached into his pocket, drawing a thin metallic pole across the Doctor's throat.

"Oh this is just magnificent, now isn't it!" The Doctor called out to Jack, laughing as the man tightened the pressure on his throat.

"Sir I can assure you everything is under control! I'll call me team-you're safe!" Jack tried to reassure the Doctor, keeping his eye on them. His tone turned a bit harsher as he addressed the masked man that was attempting to hold the Doctor hostage. "Let the human go, and you will have a decent and fair trial. No use in making it worse for yourself-you kill him and I guarantee you'll be executed before the sun goes down..."

"Human? Jack you silly-" Suddenly the Doctor stopped speaking, cocking his head to peer at Jack curiously, his eyebrows going up and his forehead crinkling just a bit. "Hold on a tick-you've never met me before, have you?"

"No sir-I'm terribly sorry we had to meet under circumstances like this. But don't worry, everything is under-"

"Well of course you've never met me! You're not _my_ Jack, after all. Well, you _are_ my Jack-just a different version!" The Doctor cut Jack off with his enthusiastic tongue, only to be shaken by the masked man holding the metallic rod.

"Silence!" A thunderous roar echoed from behind the mask, and the Doctor knew they weren't dealing with a masked man, but a masked alien.

Jack locked eyes with the Doctor for a brief instant, then looked back to the creature. "Alright then-what is that you want?"

"I want a vessel to carry me home-I refuse to stay on this mass of dust anymore! As for you Jack Harkness-you will not follow me, do you understand?" The thunderous roar of the creature had dimished to a somewhat loud, raspy whisper.

Without warning, the Doctor grabbed the screwdriver he always kept safely tucked away in his pocket, jerking around to make contact between the screwdriver and the alien. He switched it on with a simple flick of his thumb, and the creature began to scream, collapsing to the ground.

The image began to flicker-one moment the creature appeared to be a masked human male, then the next it was a medium sized creature that resembled a praying mantis. The metal rod clanked harmlessly to the ground-it was what was known as a venom rod, in which tiny needles would shoot out and inject its victim with hundreds of drops of venom. If it didn't kill you instantly, you would writhe in pain for hours...dying slowly.

Jack snatched the Doctor's arm, pulling him back. The Doctor only grinned, hiding it of course. He let Jack launch into his explanation about what the creature was, although the Doctor already knew. "It's called a Mantox," Jack had to yell over the creature's screams, "It's a matis-like creature from another planet-but not like Mars or Jupiter. Way, way out there-past our own solar system. It used what is known as a perception filter to make it seem like it was a human."

"Well I'll be! What's an alien like that doing down here on Earth?" The Doctor feigned innocense as Jack stood over the mantis-like creature, watching it gasp for air. It wasn't dying, but it wasn't too chipper either.

"I'm not sure-my job isn't interrogation. That's what they do at Agency headquarters-I am simply the trapper. Good thing you had that little tazer on you. These guys aren't too entirely different from the mantises we have down here-aside from the size and speech, of course." Jack laughed, laying the bottom of his boot across the side of the mantis. "They have the most simplistic nervous system-even just a couple volts of electricity can do severe damage..."

"Well...can't say I've ever come into contact with any of these...aliens before!" The Doctor lied, looking at the ground to hide his grin as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Jack raised his arm to his mouth, blowing on a piece of equipment that was wrapped around his wrist like a watch. "Agency 51, this is Captain Jack Harkness. Mantox has been detained-sending him in for interrogation now."

"Well done Harkness-we'll be waiting to recieve it..." A deep, calculating tone answered him from the watch-like device.

"Thank you, Commander..." With those words, Jack snatched a device that had been attached to his belt. It was a small, rectangular controller, with two slender metal prongs that jutted out from the front. A small keypad was on the underside of it, to which Jack punched in a few numbers. He held out the device to the Mantox, and a few seconds later two small beams emanated from the metal prongs, converging into one poing that covered the Mantox. It was almost intstantly converted to a stream of particles, fading away.

"Oh it's a mobile teleporter! Impressive Captain Jack!" The Doctor leaned in closer, trying to get a better view.

Jack just shrugged his shoulders, slipping the device back onto his belt. "Nothing special-just standard issue. I'm sorry sir-I didn't quite catch your name?" Jack held out his hand to the Doctor.

"I'm the Doctor!" He shook Jack hand, the grin on his face unable to come off. He was quite loving this.

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor-now tell me, Captain Jack Harkness...what is the 51st Agency of Proclomation Enforcement?" It sounded like a strange title-one the Doctor had never heard of before.

"You mean you've never heard of us? Where have you been?" He cocked his head to look at the Doctor-everyone knew of Proclomation Enforecement, or so he had thought.

"I...don't get around much, and I don't watch too much telly either..." The Doctor spoke slowly, trying to conjure up an excuse that would make logical sense to Jack.

"I see..." Jack spoke slowly, nodding his head a bit. "Well, I am part of the 51st agency that enforces proclomations amongst planets. I am part of Earth's team-nearly every planet out there has its own agency, and all of the agencies work together. We are a...sort of poice force. We catch the bad guys-alien fugitives that flee to other planets, aliencrafts that trespass, illegal smuggling between the galaxies-you name it, and we do it." As he spoke he had crossed his arms to his chest, peering up at the sky.

"So you have positive communication amongst planets then?" The Doctor was aboslutey intrigued now-in his world the human race was terrified of aliens, but here they seemed to work together as a team.

"Among most-there are still a few hostile planets out there that don't take too kindly to us, Doctor. Some of the brightest, most courageous partners I have ever worked with have been nonhuman."

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" The Doctor jumped in the air, his eyes on Jack. "And that is exactly how it should be! Oh if only home thought like you blokes think..."

Jack's eyes cut back to the Doctor as he turned his head to face him. He looked curiously at him. "And where exactly is home?"

"Oh far, far away from here...you've probably never even heard of it-"

"Just try me, Doctor. I've been to a lot of planets..." Jack spoke slowly, a smile spreading across his face as he took a step closer to the Doctor. He had caught him now...

The Doctor suddenly caught Jack's smile. "Hold on a tick Harkness-you know what I am don't you?" He became frustrated-Jack knew he wasn't human. He had been fooling this whole time.

Jack started laughing, putting one hand on his side while he ran his other hand through his hair. "No-not at first I didn't! You had me fooled for a little while!" He pointed at the Doctor as he spoke, holding out his wrist-like device. "You see, Doctor, this is more than a communications device to headquarters. This little piece of equipment will tell me if there is a nonEarth lifeform within fifty feet of me. At first I thought it was just registering the Mantox, but when the Mantox was 'ported out, it was still registering something...you." Jack was quite cocky, chuckling to himself again, shaking his head. "Nice try though."

"You're good, Captain Jack Harkness...so very, very good!" The Doctor returned the man's smile. "So what happens now-you try to arrest me for being an alien refugee?"

"Well that all depends-have you broken any proclomations?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Captain Jack. "Nah I'm just kidding. Your file hasn't come up to the agency-I only deal with cases where I have some clear information and a clear ID tag. I don't have anything on you...so I guess your clear. I do have one question for you...however..."

The Doctor smirked, nodding his head and meeting Jack's eyes. "And just what question is that, Captain Jack Harkness of the 51st Agency of Proclomation Enforcement?"

"Who are you, Doctor?"


	4. The Red TARDIS

As Rose turned the corner, she thought she had heard a bit of shouting. She stopped, cocking her head while trying to listen. Nothing...

She rolled her eyes-why did it matter if there was shouting? Blimey, blokes shouted at each other all the time. She shook her head-thinking she looked rather daft at the moment.

The street that stretched out in front of her was rather busy at the moment-mums pushing prams down the sidewalk, blokes screaming into their mobiles, young couples out for lunch. She wondered what would be different about this world-the Doctor always said that parallel worlds were almost identical save for some differences.

"I hope I'm at least not a dog..." She muttered to herself tugging absent mindedly on her hair. She wondered about her mum-not that she had any intention of going to the flat. She had already made up in her mind that she wasn't going to go through any of that again-besides what if they had a Rose? How would she ever explain why there was another woman that looked exactly like their daughter coming to knock on the door? Hell-she couldn't hardly explain it herself save for the Doctor told her.

She passed by a small cafe, where a young man was leaning over to whisper something in another girl's ear. She giggled and swiped at him, only to have him grab her hand and pull her in to snog.

"Just drool all over her, why don't you..." Rose had said it a little too loudly in passing. The young girl turned and glared in her direction. "Sorry..." Rose held up a hand, muttering her apologies as she lowered her head.

But the Doctor hadn't meant what he had said, did he? She thought they had...well, something. _Signal, signal, signal_. She was supposed to be searching for the signal, not dwelling on the Doctor's words.

"How am I even supposed to find the signal?" Rose asked aloud, hugging her body with her arms. Why is it so cold here? She caught a snippet of a paper that a man was reading-the date said that it was June 30th. But it was chilly...suddenly it hit Rose.

"The seasons are opposite here..." She spoke to herself once more, stopping to actually look at the people around her. Most were wearing, at the very least, light jackets. A few even had winter coats on. Well that was one difference from her world.

Rose suddenly stopped in her tracks, gasping out in pain. Her hands went to her ears. It felt like a hot poker was being gouged through her ear canal. Her knees hit the pavement and she cried out. She couldn't hear much, except a few muffled voices as a few people started to gather around her.

A woman leaned down to touch her head. "Are you alright-would you like me to call an ambulance?" Her question became clearer as the sharp pain faded into a dull ringing. "Give her room! Give her room!" Another man called out, fanning out the crowd of people that had gathered to see about the screaming girl. Rose climbed to her feet, embarassed that she had caused that little scene. "No I'm fine, really-just a headache..." Her voice was shaky as she spoke to the woman who had asked about calling an ambulance.

The crowd was beginning to talk at once, asking her if she needed anything or what she would like for them to do. Their voices thrashed against her, and she stammered, backing away. She suddenly turned and ran, the faint ringing still pulsing through her ears, to get away from the crowd.

Her feet pounded across the pavement-she was scared now. What had happened? That sharp pain...the ringing that she could still hear-and why had no one else seemed to hear it? Why was it only her? Her hood fell back onto her shoulders as she turned into an alley way that connected that street to another.

She slammed her back into the wall, closing her eyes as she slid down to the ground. She was panting-out of breath from running and still trying to make sense of what had just happened to her. Did the Doctor feel that burning in his ears too? What about the ringing-did he feel that, now?

"Get a grip, Rose." She told herself aloud as she ran her hands over her cheeks and down her neck.

She put her hand shakily against the side of the brick building and helped herself up, shaking her head. She shouldn't panic-the Doctor would know what to do. He always knew what to do...or he thought of some last minute plan that worked just as well.

"I've got to keep searching-" She turned around to walk through to the end of the alley, when she was nearly knocked to her feet again. But this time there was no searing pain in her ears. This time there was a...

Red TARDIS. In the alley. Blocking her path.

"Ok...there's a red TARDIS. A red TARDIS...it's fine-it's the same, it's just red, that's all." She took a deep breath, holding her hands out in front of her in case she should decide to fall to ground again. Her voice was calm, but a scary calm that someones talks in when they are trying to convince themselves of something even they know isn't true.

She stepped carefully towards it, her apprehension slowly melting into curiousity. She knocked on the door-wooden. She put her head up against it, trying to see if she could hear anything, but it was just silence. She tried to pull the doors open, but they were locked. She tugged even harder, almost losing her grip, but they didn't budge.

"What...are...you?" See asked herself as she walked in a circle around it. It looked exactly like her TARDIS-well, the Doctor's TARDIS-except that it was red. Same height, same sign on the front, same POLICE above...

As the Doctor turned the corner, he stumbled on his own feet.

It had worked. It had actually, really, truly worked...

Although she had her back turned to him, he wouldn't be able to miss her for anyone else in the whole galaxy. That blonde hair...She was unmistakable. He couldn't believe it. It was as if she had come back to the grave just to see him.

He knew he should have said something, done something, but he couldn't move. All he could do was watch her. She was examining the TARDIS-the same TARDIS he had shared with her on their countless adventures together...

He finally opened his mouth, screaming as loud as he could the only word that came to his mind, that would always be on his mind-

"ROSE!"

She whirled around, hearing someone scream her name out. "Doctor-are you alright?" Her heart suddenly sank as she realized that it was him that screaming out to her-had something happened? Had he felt the pain too?

He was running toward her-wearing a completely different set of clothes? Why had he changed clothes? She realized he had started running towards her-well when the Doctor runs, it's always safe to do the same-she started to run toward him. "What's wrong -are you hurt? Did you feel-" She was cut off mid sentence as the Doctor grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into him, crushing her into his chest.

"Rose I've missed you so much..." He whispered to her, running his hand through her hair. He never thought-not in a million years and across thousands of glaxies-he'd ever get to touch her hair again.

She struggled in his grasp, breaking away for a moment. "You have to tell me-what's wrong?" He was starting to scare her with his nonsensical talk. Of course he always talked nonsense, but this time she couldn't find any meaning in it at all. What did he mean he missed her-she had just seen him not fifteen minutes ago. She grabbed his face with both of her hands, making her look him in the eye.

A wide smile crackled across his face as his eyes lit up at the touch of her hands on his face. "Wrong-there's nothing wrong, Rose Tyler! Everything...it's all alright!"

Suddenly her eyes darkened, and she pushed him off of her. "Don't you ever scare me like that you idiot! You had me thinking the whole world was collapsing into a...black hole or something!" She was practically yelling at him. "Here I am trying to look for your stupid signal, and you'll pulling tricks!" She threw her arms up in frustration.

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, when she cut him off. "And where did you find the time to change your clothes while you were supposed to be looking for the signal too!"

Her eyes were like fire place embers as she looked him up and down. He had switched his old attire for a pair of denim jeans, and a collared dress shirt with some sort of formal vest over it. Also gone were the trainers-in their place were a black pair of combat boots.

The Doctor looked down at himself, then back up at her. "I didn't change clothes Rose. I know everything is different-let me explain-"

"And why all of a sudden do you miss me? Back home you said you'd rather forget me-you only asked me to travel with you because I was the closest human when you landed!" Suddenly she covered her mouth with her hands. She hadn't meant to say it-she wasn't even consciously thinking about their arguement anymore. In her anger it must have resurfaced.

The Doctor reached out to grab her arm, a look of shock across his face. "He said what to you?"

"Just forget it-wait a minute...what do you mean "he said", Doctor?" She stopped speaking to stare at him, confused yet puzzled. He was sounding stranger and stranger by the minute.

The Doctor took a deep breath, holding onto her arm like she might just collapse if he detached himself. He didn't know any other way to explain it to her, so he just opened his mouth and let the words flow.

"That TARDIS is my TARDIS, Rose Tyler. I am the Doctor, but not the same Doctor that you know. You are from...another world, but I am of this world."

He stopped. He had said everything as plainly as he could. Se would have to sort it all out now. Rose could only stare-she didn't know what else to say. She hadn't thought about the parallel world having its own parallel Doctor-but it made enough sense to have one, didn't it? Parallel worlds had the same things, with only slight differences.

"How did we get here? And what about the Doctor-my Doctor-does he know about you? And why is your TARDIS red?" Rose tried to control herself, but question after question kept spilling out of her mouth.

"Rose," he took her hand with his free one, meeting her eyes with his own. "I promise I'll explain everything to you. But first..." He moved from her, pulling a key out of his pocket and unlocking the doors of the TARDIS, then he stepped aside, beaming at her. Blimey, it was good to see her again... "After you..."

"Where are we going?" Rose narrowed her eyes, though a hint of a smile tugged at her lips. She was wary of this parallel Doctor, yet she was intrigued by him as well.

The parallel Doctor chuckled, then shook his head. "Nowhere, Rose...just a quiet place to talk while I help you sort all of this out. Don't worry-not like I'm going to kidnap you and flee to the stars..." He winked at her, waiting.

She laughed, walking toward him as she spoke. "I'm not worried about that-my Doctor would track you down, you know."

"Ha! I'm not too worried about him." As she got to the TARDIS, he held out his hand to her. Rose's mind instantly went back to the night in the store, with the Autons...the Doctor had opened the door and held out his hand to her. LIttle did she know what taking his hand had really meant for her that night.

And here he was, holding out his hand to her once more. Only this...wasn't the Doctor. Well, not her Doctor at least. What decision would she make now...

Without another word, she took his hand.


	5. No Longer the Last

"Oh I knew that was coming, Jack." The Doctor rolled his eyes, reaching back to scratch the back of his neck. He looked up at him-Jack was waiting for his reply.

"It's...complicated Jack. I'm not from here-I'll tell you that." The Doctor reached down to shve his hands back in his pockets, the wind ruffling his long coat.

"That much is obvious-" Jack was starting to say.

"No Jack-not Earth. Well, of course I'm not from Earth-but what I meant was..." He stopped, meeting Jack's eyes once again. "I'm from a parallel world. My world...it looks much the same, but it has its differences...like you, for one." He chuckled, thinking back to his own Captain Jack Harkness.

He didn't know what to expect from Jack. He didn't know if Jack would shake his head in disbelief, or try to construct some kind of logical explanation, or even try to shoot him. All The Doctor knew was that he didn't expect what would happen next.

Jack started laughing.

He bent down, hands on his knees, cackling down to the ground. He stayed that way for a few seconds, while the wind ruffled his dark hair. Then he came back up, using one of his hands to wipe the tears from his face.

"And just what is so funny?" The Doctor crossed his hands, getting a bit brassed up. He was trying to have a serious conversation with the man, yet here he was laughing at him. "Do you not believe what I am trying to say?"

"Oh I didn't say I didn't believe you, Doctor..." Jack was trying to talk while he was still laughing, wiping away more tears that streamed down his face. "I've dealt with more things than most humans will ever deal with in their lives-there is absolutely nothing that I believe isn't possible."

"Then why are you laughing?"

"The whole thing! You, coming from another dimesnion and getting stuck, only to be caught in the middle of an alien hostage negotiation! It's like-an issue of a comic book or something!" Jack started to laugh all over again, turning around to hide his face. The whole situation was absolutely absurd-possible, but so completely absurd that it was hilarious.

Even the Doctor started to chuckle. "Well, I guess it is a bit funny. And the thing is-this is the second time this has happened to me!"

"Really?" Jack turned and slapped him on the back, trying without luck to regain his composure.

"Yeah!" The Doctor grabbed Jack by the arm, helping to keep him steady so he wouldn't collapse to the ground.

After a moment or two, Jack stopped, though his grin was still plastered across his face. "Well I'm a bit hungry, Doctor. I know of a little cafe on the corner-let's say you and I grab a bite to eat and you tell me your whole ridiculous story?"

The Doctor had to think a moment-he was supposed to be searching for the source of the signal...but then again, Jack was familiar with alien affairs. Maybe he could ask him a few questions as well-see if he knew anything.

The Doctor nodded. "Alright then, Captain Jack."

* * *

><p>"So I get you're not from this dimension-easy enough. But what's your home planet back in your dimension?" Jack asked between taking bites of his sandwich. They were sitting on the patio of a little street cafe, leaning back in iron chairs across from each other.<p>

"Oh my home planet...it's not there anymore."

Jack arched a brow at the Doctor, leaning over the table to be closer. "What do you mean not there? Did it's orbit expand or decrease?"

The Doctor shook his head, looking away from Jack for a moment. "It...burned. There was a war-my race was completely wiped out save for me. I really don't...talk about it much."

"I'm sorry-what was it?" Jack set his sandwich down, peering at the Doctor. He was dying to now this mysterious planet that the Doctor was reluctant in sharing with him.

"Gallifrey..." The Doctor answered slowly.

Gallifrey? What was he talking about? "Gallifrey? What do you mean it burned? It's still there-galaxies away like it always has been. Wait-you're from Gallifrey? That would make you...a Time Lord!"

Jack suddenly had the Doctor's full attention. He leaned across the table, grabbing Jack's wrist. "It's still here-in this dimension? No Time War?"

Jack shrugged, taking another bite of his sandwich. "Oh-well, yeah, there was a Time War. It was many years ago-I only know from the histories. The Time Lords were almost wiped out-but they won. What are you saying-in your world the Time Lords are...extinct?"

"Yes. Well, no. Well, actually...yes. Well..all for me they are. I survived-been travelling in my ship eversince." The Doctor leaned back in his chair-it was so much new information to take in.

"That blue box thing on the street? That was your ship. You're, uh..." Jack tried to think of the name of the Time Lord's ships. They well called..something with T..."A TARDIS! That's your TARDIS, right?"

"Yes-quite good Captain Jack!" The Doctor nodded his head.

"Okay-I have another question for you..." It was a question Jack had been dying to ask him since they had sat down.

"You're gonna ask me if there is a Captain Jack Harkness is my world-aren't you?" The Doctor grinned, knowing the question before he had to ask. "And yes, there is. He's actually a...friend of mine."

"What does he do?" Jack leaned back over the table, eyes glued to the Doctor. He wanted to know all about himself-well, the "himself" that was part of another world.

"Oh you don't really wanna know-" The Doctor was about to raise him arm, when Jack grabbed him. "Oh alright-I'll tell you then."

The Doctor lowered his voice as he started speaking. "He was a time agent turned con artist, from the future. Got stuck in our part of time-but he's a good man. Vain and a flirt if I ever saw one, mind you, but he is a good man. He's helped me out, more than I tend to give him credit for..." And how true it was...

Paralell Jack's face warped into a look of shock. "A con artist-you're lying..."

"Oh no Im 'not. You know the first time I met you...er, him-he tried to sell me a Chula ambulance during the London Blitz? Worthless piece of space junk that he knew would get demolished!" The Doctor laughed-it was a good memory, despite the trying to be conned. He would always be grateful to Jack for everything, and leaving him on Satellite 5 was something that he would always regret...

Jack laughed, picking up his drink and sipping. "So I'm Captain Jack Harkness...renegade Time Agent, con man, and assistant to the Doctor...tell me-do I at least have a woman?"

"Oh one on every planet Jack!"

"That's all I needed to know..." Jack said smugly as he set his drink back on the table. They were each quiet for a moment, trying to sift and sort through all of the new information they had each been handed.

Finally the Doctor spoke up. It was his turn to start asking a few questions now. "Jack-I was brought here by a signal. Well to be exact my TARDIS was brought here by a signal-a pretty strong one that appears to travel between dimensions, as it seems. You're familiar with alien technology-do you know anything about it?"

Jack looked up at the sky, thinking for a moment. A strong enough signal...strong enough to pull a Time Lord's ship from another dimension...

"There's no alien technology anywhere around here, Doctor. Well, not any can broadcast a signal that strong. Across galaxies, maybe...but across dimensions?"

Jack thought upon it a bit more. He knew of the Time Lords, but he didn't deal with them very much. They were one of the planets that didn't take too kindly to proclomation Enforcement-they were a bit mysterious to him, to be hoenste. They were so far out there-not many ships travelled there, so there was no telling what was going on on Gallifrey. But wait...didn't he remember reading something, a few months ago maybe...

He looked back to the Doctor, who was staring at him. "What is it Jack-what are you thinking?"

"Well I don't know how good this is going to be to you-but I think I can recall reading something. It was a few months ago-I don't know, but the TARDIS...A Time Lord's TARDIS can broadcast a signal to other TARDISes, can't it? Pull them in to each other?"

The Doctor nodded his head. It was good thinking. It was actually the same thing that he had been thinking earlier, but it just couldn't be ppossible..."That's true-it was a defense mechanism built into each TARDIS. If a group of Time Lords got into a spot, all they had to do was broadcast their signal, and the nearest TARDIS would latch onto the signal and be pulled to them. It was a strong signal-it could be broacast through all of time, in all of space."

"But across dimensions-is that even possible?"

The Doctor was about to open his mouth to reply to Jack's question, when the woman that was seated beside them began to talk rather loudly.

"Did you happen to see that girl about hour ago?" The woman was speaking to a mate that was sitting at the table with her.

"No-what girl?" Her mate had answered her.

"I don't know-it was strange. It was a young girl-she looked maybe nineteen or twenty-had some sort of spell in the middle of the street. Grabbed her head and started screaming like something was attacking her head. I offered to call an ambulance for her-poor thing. Just jumped up and ran off down the street, that way..."She pointed down the opposite way the Doctor and Jack had come.

"What did she look like?"

"Young girl-I don't see how you could have missed her. She had on some awul purple jacket thing-blonde hair..."

Suddenly the Doctor jumped to his feet. "Rose!" He shouted-how could he have forgotten about her? She was still out there-searching for the signal and here he was chatting away with Jack-well, parallel Jack.

"Who's Rose?" Jack was looking at his curiously.

"She's...someone I care for very much. She's out there, looking for the signal I was telling you about!" The Doctor grabbed the railing of the patio, jumping over it and hit the ground running in the direction the woman had mentioned Rose had run.

Jack was after him, amidst the gasps of the surprised crowd at the sight of two grown men jumping over the railing and running down the street. "Someone you care about-like a girlfriend?" Jack called after him, trying his best to keep up.

The Doctor scanned the street, looking from face to face, but no sign of Rose. "No, well...no! Not a girlfriend-a close mate of mine. She travels with me" He called back over his shoulder as he stopped in the middle of the street.

He turned, looking at everyone around him. Still no sign of her. Jack stopped beside him, not knowing what she looked like. A fat lot of help he would be to the Doctor.

"And in our whole conversation you for got to mention her?" Jack asked.

"I know-I know...I can't believe it myself!" The Doctor yelled, more angry at himself than anything. What in the hell had he been thinking-just letting her roam around on her own? He should have stopped her, and in a parallel world no less. He didn't know what was different about this world-there was no telling what kind of danger she could have gottten into.

The Doctor started to scream out, ignoring the looks he as getting from the crowd.

"Rose! Rose Tyler where are you!"


	6. Hello Doctor, meet the Doctor

Rose leaned over the railing, looking inwonder at the controls that were in front of her. Everything...it looked the exact same as in her TARDIS-well, the Doctor's TARDIS-well, her Doctor's TARDIS.

"Well, what do you think?" The parallel Doctor was leaning against the wall, arms crossed as he watched her. She was back-was actually here, in the TARDIS, running her hands over the controls that were in front of her. It almost felt like old times.

"It's...strange." Rose laughed at her underwhelming word turning to look at him. "It's like-it's all the same. This TARDIS and the other-even you."

The parallel Doctor diverted his eyes to the ground for a moment, then looked back up at her, a wide grin stretching across his face. "Yeah-I guess I'm a bit strange."

She laughed, making her way in a slow circle around the controls of the TARDIS, running her fingers across the railing. "That's not what I meant. I meant...everything about this place. Parallel words-where everything is the same, and yet everything is so different..."

She stopped to look at him once more, a question coming to her mind. "Is there...a Rose Tyler here?"

"Of course-she's standing right there, talking to me." The Doctor gave her a mock look of confusion.

"You know what I mean-does this world have a Rose Tyler. And be honest-you can tell me if she was a cat or a cow or an elephant, or something like that." Rose added, flipping her hand in the air as she made her way back round the controls, to stand a few feet away from the parallel Doctor.

"Yes, there was a Rose Tyler here, and no she wasn't an elephant," he added with a smile, "But she isn't here anymore."

"What happened? Did you get tired of her-did she get on your nerves?" Rose asked, taking another step towards him.

"No-never. If anything she was...the motivation that kept me going." As he spoke about her, he watched the new Rose carefully, allowed his eyes to trail subtly across her face. Her white skin, her blonde hair, brown eyes...

"What do you mean-motivation?" She broke him from his thoughts with her question.

"I did the whole travelling thing-planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy-met all kinds of new races, species...I saw so many wonderful things...but after a while even travelling gets boring." He spoke slowly, looking down to the floor. "Nothing seems magical anymore. I wanted to stop travelling-but then I met Rose..." He looked straight ahead, not really seeing anything but the images that flashed through his mind on fast forward. "She saw the wonder and excitement in everything. She was human like you, and saw the human perspective in nearly everything. I kept travelling because of her..."

Images were plastered onto the walls of his mind-images that he couldn't forget no matter how hard he tried. Her last moments...the things that he wished he would have said...the awful, feeling of drowning. Being pulled under the current-kicking and screaming and thrashing, and going...absolutely...nowhere. She had been there-had been inches away from him, but she was so far gone...

_"Hold on Rose-just hold on. Please..." He held onto her as if she might float away from him, clutching her to his chest._

_"I'm not going...anywhere...I promise..." Her voice was becoming softer-the breeze was almost stealing it away from his ears._

_"I'm so sorry Rose. I should have been here-" His voice was breaking as he rocked her softly-he didn't know why, maybe he thought if he kept up the movement he could rock the death away from her._

_"No-it wasn't you. I should have listened...stupid Rose..." She chuckled softly, tapping her fingers across his arm with as much energy as she could muster._

_"Don't you say that-don't you ever say that!" He screamed out, moving the blonde hair out of her face. "Everything will be fine-the ambulance will get here, and you'll be fixed in no time." A smile suddenly broke across his face. She would be okay, she would be okay, she would be okay..._

_Wrong. She would have been okay, if only he had gotten to her sooner..._

_"Tell me about waterfalls on Kaluri Six, Doctor-you promised we'd go sometime..." She craned her head up weakly to look at him, her eyeslids beginning to droop._

_"I know I did-and we will go. Today...just-just as soon as you feel better." His tears dripped down his chin, landing on her forehead. _

_"The waterfalls...are like liquid crystal, and they-they reflect the colors of the-the sky. Pink, lavender...blue, gr-green..."_

_Rose watched him as he talked to her-tried her best to stay with him. He meant everything to her-to see him cry because of something she had caused...it was unbearable. _

_She felt her body drop a few feet, only she was still in the Doctor's arms. Not much longer now..._

_"I didn't mean to cause you pain-I'm so sorry..." She reached up weakly, touching his dark brown locks of hair. This was her last chance...to touch him. To feel him._

_He could hear the sirens in the distance, but as much as he wanted to feel some flicker of hope...he didn't. He knew. He knew the ambulance wasn't going to be able to help her-she was...she was too far gone._

_"Rose," he leaned down, cradling her face in his hand. "Are you scared?" _

_She smiled, and warmth flooded him but for a few seconds. "Scared? Why should I be scared-I've seen what is up there..."_

_Tears traced liquid lines down his face-that was all he needed to hear, to know that she wouldn't die alone and scared._

_"The only thing scary about dying...is me not knowing if you know how much I love you." She whispered up at him._

_"I love you...too, Rose Tyler..." His voice was breaking again-he was dangerously close to losing it._

_Rose could feel it now-like the hand of a parent coaxing you through a doorway-a gentle nudge toward something new. _

_"Please...Doctor...just don't give up on us. We're not all...stupid, awful people. Humans...are worth it...just don't...give up...on us..." Her eyelids fluttered, and he felt her grip on him start to loosen._

_"Rose! Rose!" The Doctor screamed, shaking her in his arms. "Rose-just no! Stay with me-a little longer! A little longer!" _

_He screamed as the paramedics tried to take her from him-he would have sat there holding her for the rest of time, refusing to let go...until she had crumbled to dust in his arms. _

"Doctor!" He was thrust from his thoughts by someone yelling. Rose. He looked at her straight in the eye. It was Rose-she was yelling at him. Rose...

"Are you alright-you started talking, then you just stopped. Now you're crying..."She reached out and wiped a tear from his cheek.

"Oh-yeah, yeah. Quite fine..." He laughed lightly, turning away to wipe the tears from his eyes. He thought he was over this by now...

"What's wrong-what were you thinking about?" She touched his shoulder gently, turning him back around to face her.

"Rose...the one that belonged here-she died." He couldn't believe those words actually fell from his lips. He never talked about her-not even back on Gallifrey. Yet here he was, talking about her without a single thought. But she wasn't just another person-not new Rose. He finally had someone he could talk to-he had called, and she had come back to him.

"How did she die?" Rose's voice dropped, then when she realized what she had asked she turned around in a flush of embarassment. "Oh-I'm sorry-it's none of my business..."

"No-it's-it's fine. You can ask me anything. I won't hide anything from you...she was blagged. Stabbed...bled to death, right there in my arms. I could have saved her, had I gotten there sooner..."

He watched Rose face, her eyes...noticed the little changes like she was thinking. Her slightly narrowd eyes, the little crinkles in her forehead. He already knew what she was thinking, knew that she didn't want to ask, so he would ask for you.

"You want to know where I was...why I didn't get there in time, don't you?"

"Look you don't have to tell me anything-" She was about to drop the whole conversation, but he was right. She wanted to know where he had been-why the other Rose had to die.

He nodded-he knew it. He grinned and threw her a sideways glance. "Rose and I...we quarrelled all the time. Nothing too importnat-but little spats about the dumbest of things. We'd gotten into a spat that day-said she wanted me to take her home. I brought her back-so she decided to leave the TARDIS and go walking around at night by herself, I guess to blow it off. I didn't think anything of it-Rose walked around at night before, alone. When she got out of the TARDIS I slammed the doors shut behind her, knowing that she'd come running back. Blimey, I was so stupid...I didn't find her until two hours later..."

"I'm...I'm so sorry."

The parallel Doctor shook his head, trying to convince even himself that he was okay. "Thing is-all those places I took her, with aliens and all that danger that I kept her safe from, but I couldn't keep her safe from Earth, her own backyard."

Rose was quiet for a minute, leaning up against the railings of the TARDIS controls. "Yeah...me and the Doctor-my Doctor-we have our own little quarrels.

"Is that why you were out there, walking in the alley all alone?" The parallel Doctor tilted his head to look at her, leaning against the wall.

Rose rolled her eyes-reminded of their arguement earlier in the TARDIS. "He's just...he can be so arrogant! it's always, "Rose, stay here", or "Rose, don't follow me." Then today-he actually told me that he picked me to travel with him because I was the closest one when the TARDIS landed-bullocks!"

"No..." The parallel Doctor's eyes widened.

She whirled around to face him. "Exactly what I thought! He always holds is so high above my head that I am a lowly little human and he is this big, mightly Time Lord-and there is no way my tiny little human brain can know what he is going through!"

"Bullocks!" The parallel Doctor laughed as he mimicked Rose. She nodded enthusiastically, pointing to him. "And he even said if he could he'd leave me and go back to Gallifrey-I mean that is awful. Why would you say that?" Her mouth was twisted in a grimace.

The parallel Doctor took a hop to where she was and opened his mouth to speak, when there was a loud banging on the doors of the TARDIS.

"I don't remember ordering any takeout dinner..." The parallel Docter teased with a grin as he looked over at Rose and rolled his eyes. She laughed-they both knew who it was before the TARDIS doors were even opened.

Rose walked behind the parallel Doctor as he pushed out the doors to the TARDIS. She peered over the parallel Doctor's shoulder as he leaned in the door, a with a smirk crackling across his face as she stared at the knocker.

"Oh hello there handsome!" The parallel Doctor called out cheerfully. Rose giggled and waved.

The Doctor stood there, dumbstruck by the sight that was in front of him. A Red TARDIS. Rose waving. Add himself...who stood there wearing blue denims?

He was about to say somtehing, when the parallel Doctor chimed in.

"Let me guess-you're the Doctor?"


	7. Home, Not So Sweet Home

The Doctor's face contorted into something like a mixture of anger and utter bewilderment. But of course he let the anger win out.

"Yes I'm the Doctor-and who the hell are you? No-actually, wait a moment-I think the real question is what the hell are you wearing?"

"I could very well ask you the same thing-who do you think you are-Sherlock Holmes?" The parallel Doctor laughed as he looked the Doctor up and down. "All your missing is a cap and a pipe!"

Rose giggled-she always thought the Doctor dressed a little well...Sherlockian.

"Oh-and you think this is so hilarious, do you?" The Doctor heard Rose giggle and pointed a finger at her. "Here I was out scouring the streets for you-and you're here...gamboling with...strange men who bare a striking resemblance to me in a TARDIS that-might I add-is red!"

"Scouring the streets? You forgot about her!" Jack laughed from behind the Doctor, and Rose looked at him with a grin as she waved from behind the parallel Doctor. "Oh hello Jack-I'll get to you in just a second! But first-what do you mean forgot about me?" She turned her sights back to the Doctor, her dark eyes glaring at him.

The Doctor shook his head, scraping the soles of his left foot across the ground. "Oh I didn't forget about you-I knew you were here...somewhere. Just thought you might need a bit of help..." He shrugged his shoulders at her, then turned to give Jack a look.

"See-what did I tell you about him!" She spoke to the parallel Doctor, then turned and went back into the TARDIS.

"Wow mate...love your skills with the ladies. Practically knock them dead now don't you?" The parallel Doctor asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Oi-don't get cheeky with me." He studied the other Doctor in front of him before speaking again. "Now let me make absolutely sure that I am clear-we are in a parallel world yes? And you are the parallel me yes?"

"Wellll I like to think that you're the parallel me, actually. But yes-that's basically the summation of your situation here. Now...what to call you?" The parallel Doctor rested his chin on his hand as he spoke.

"I'm the Doctor-you call me Doctor!"

"Oh I got it-You can be Doctor B!" The parallel Doctor snapped his fingers and yelled excitedly in the air. He saw the look on the Doctor's face and smiled. "Well we can't both be the Doctor-how daft would that sound? Everyone would be calling "Doctor" and then we'd not know who was who and that would just be terrible, now don't you think?"

"And I'm Captain Jack Harkness-in case anyone is interested!" Jack yelled into the fray, holding up his hands.

"Not now!" Both Doctor turned to yell at Jack, then faced each other again. "Well, I should go-I've got company and I do hate to be rude." The parallel Doctor turned to go, when the Doctor grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the TARDIS and onto the street.

"Just a minute-Rose! Rose get out of there!" The Doctor screamed into the TARDIS. "Where do you think you're going to go with this mad man and his little red box!"

Rose appeared at the entrance to the TARDIS once more, her arms crossed to her chest. "Not that it is any of your concern, but we were just talking. I'm sure he didn't pick me to talk because I was the closest human being to him!" Rose screamed.

The parallel Doctor turned back to her, with the Doctor still clinging onto his arm. "Actually Rose-I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with me for a short trip-see my home planet..." He turned to look at the Doctor with a smirk.

"But-Gallifrey is lost..." She looked from one Doctor to the next. They both were the same, except for the clothing.

The parallel Doctor laughed, snatching his arm out of the Doctor grasp and straightening his collar. "Lost? It's right up there-" He said, pointing up, "In the same place its been since the dawn of time. Sure we almost lost it once or twice..." A grin was spreading across his face.

"Doctor, is this true?" She looked to her Doctor, not quite sure what to make of the parallel Doctor's words.

He sighed, forced to nod his head. "Yeah Rose-it's true. Parallel worlds, remember? In our world Gallifrey is gone, but here it is thriving. Now come on-you're not going anywhere alone with him."

The parallel Doctor shrugged, turning back to look at the Doctor. "You can come along-you and your mate Jack. See your home again...what do you say?"

"Oh come on Doctor-Gallifrey! The one planet I've wanted to see more than anything!" Rose grabbed his arm, pleading with him.

The parallel Doctor arched a brow. "You'll never get another chance, Time Lord..."

The Doctor thought about it a minute-just a split second. Home...home. Orange skies, grass that blazed red, like the whole planet was set ablaze...

He could go back, one last time...No, no what was he thinking?

"No Rose-you don't even know him." He looked at the parallel Doctor, a scowl marking his face. "I don't even know him..."

"Of course you do-I'm you!"

"No you're not-you're just another version of me." He shifted his eyes to Rose. "If we go with him he could just dump us anywhere he likes!"

Rose shrugged her shoulders, turned and stood by the side of the parallel Doctor. She wrapped her fingers around his, looking the Doctor in the eye. "I've made my choice-I'm going. You can stay here."

Her tone was almost defiant as she spoke. The Doctor ran his hands savagely through his air, his eyes nearly nearly bugging from his skull when she grabbed his hand. He cleared his throat, closing his eyes and reopening them on Rose.

He glued a fake smile to his face, then turned on his heels. "Alright then Rose Tyler-if that's your choice. Hate to say I told you so..." He walked past Jack, waving his hand for him to come along.

Rose was just as surprised, but she'd be damned if she let it show on her face or in her voice. "Well...yeah-that is my choice! Guess I'll see you later!" She called as he walked away, turning to hop back in the TARDIS. Though she was shocked that he would just turn away, she had to admit that she was just as excited. She couldn't even imagine the things that Doctor had told her-Gallifrey, home of the mighty Time Lords.

"I'll have her back-just a quick pop around Gallifrey. You'll regret this-last chance!" The parallel Doctor yelled to the retreating form of the Doctor, then turned himself and returned to his red TARDIS, where Rose was waiting.

When the Doctor heard the familiar "whooshing" of the TARDIS, he stopped, tempted to turn back around. He bit his lip, thrusting his hands back into his pockets. Jack, who was walking beside him, started to laugh as the Doctor had stopped. "You're not really gonna let her go with him alone-are you?"

Damn it Jack-he knew just about everything. "Why do you have to be so clever!" The Doctor groaned at himself as he swung back around, running to get to the TARDIS before it was gone. Of course he wasn't going to let her go with him by herself. He was so thick by thinking he could just walk away like that. Never again...

Jack ran at his heels-though he himself was a bit unsure. The Time Lords didn't look to highly upon Proclomation Enforcement, but then again it would give him a chance to observe them-so secretive and mysterious. He would be able to report to the agency if he thought something strange was going on.

The Doctor got within feet of the door, expecting to have to bang and pound on it, but the thrust out for him instead.

"I thought you might change your mind!" The parallel Doctor said as he bowed before the men. "Welcome to the TARDIS!"

The Doctor was astounded. He expected it to look so different-but it was exactly the same. Well, aside from it being red.

The Doctor snatched his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, waving it around. The parallel Doctor stared a him for a moment before closing the TARDIS doors and stationing himself in front of the controls. "What is that?"

Rose smiled, watching the Doctor. "That's his sonic screwdriver-comes in handy in a pinch."

"Oh I've got something like that-" The paralell Doctor pulled out a small device that was dotted with strips of blue lights. With a flick of his thumb, a three inch blade emerged from the tip. Another quick movement with his thumbs and a thin stream of blue light was emanating from just sbelow the blade.

The Doctor cocked his head, then started to laugh. "What is that-a lazer box cutter? How daft!"

"Says the one with the sonic screwdriver..." The parallel Doctor mumbled to himself, throwing Rose a glance. "You ready for an adventure, Rose Tyler?"

"Yes sir!" She stood beside him, wanting to watch him.

As he watched them, a snarl almost crossed his lips. He didn't trust him-no matter how similar this parallel Doctor bloke was to him, he was a stranger.

"Remember what you said-a quick pop around the planet, then we're back..." His tone conveyed his words as more of a warning than a reminder.

Th parallel Doctor pulled a large lever that was in front him, as he turned his head to level a gaze at the Doctor.

"Of course..."


	8. A Not So Quick Trip

"Rose Tyler-would you like to help me pilot the TARDIS?" The parallel Doctor asked her as he turned once more to look at her.

"You bet I would..." was her reply as she stepped next to him, looking down at the myriad of buttons and levels and switches that laid out in front of her like a mechanical ocean. "What do I do first?"

"You sure that's such a good idea?" The Doctor called, watching them from the other side of the controls.

"She'll be fine-can't do too much damage with me beside her." The parallel Doctor called back to him without taking his eyes off of Rose.

"Now first-we must enter in the coordinates..." The parallel Doctor took her hand in his and placed them over a small blue keyboard. He gave her a string of numbers, and she typed them in as he recited them to her.

"Now-that lever there." The parallel Doctor pointed to a silver level that was above her head. She grabbed it and pulled, almost jumping as the TARDIS shook to life. "That was the handbrake." He grinned at her.

He stepped behind her, leaning over her shoulder. "Now-just hit those switches there..." She nodded, flipping each switch down in the grey switch bank that was beside her.

"Brilliant, Rose Tyler. A born natural-now, you watch that monitor there, and make sure those readings stay level." She looked above her head, to a small monitor that was giving off a string of numbers.

"Did you ever let Rose-your Rose-pilot the TARDIS?" She asked, keeping her eyes glued to the monitor.

"Oh yes-hundreds of times. I dare say she was even better than me at times. The TARDIS flew more smoothly for her than it did myself."

"So there was a parallel Rose here as well?" The Doctor asked from across the control center, watching the Doctor and Rose carefully.

The parallel Doctor looked up, meeting his eyes for a moment. "Yeah there was...not anymore." His tone was low and controlled. The Doctor sensed there something in that control...

"Where has she gone to?" He would try to pull as much information as he could from this Doctor. He was curious-why wasn't his Rose with him anymore.

"She...died. Been almost, oh-three months?" His voice was level as he spoke, but the Doctor saw something else in his eyes. It was a familiar feeling-the Doctor would never forget it for as long as he lived. It was...loss, regret, anger-all those feelings melded into a single emotion.

But he was relentless. "What happened?"

Rose shot him a glare from where she was standing. "You don't have to answer him-"

"No, no. It's fine. About time I started talking about it, actually." He cut in before Rose could finish, offering her a smile. He glanced up at the monitor again, making sure the readings were level, then let his eyes rest back on the Doctor. "She died on Earth. We had...a fight. She stormed off alone in the dark-stabbed, robbed, bled to death in my arms. That's the short version." The words tumbled out of his mouth quickly-although Rose was the only person he had talked about her death with, the words just seemed to flow like it was a familiar story that he recited all the time.

"That's...terrible. I'm sorry." Jack spoke up from where he was sitting on a worn, leather bench. He hadn't said much since they had boarded-he was content to watch the two Time Lords-and break up any fights that should occur.

"No need for apologies." He glanced over at Jack. "I'm sorry, but how do you know the Doctor?"

"Just met him today, actually. Apparently in his dimension him and I are mates." He laughed as he looked at Rose. "And I guess in your home world you know me too?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Of course-you're Captain Jack Harkness. You saved me from the bottom of a flying derigible, and then we danced!"

Jack laughed, leaning back on the bench. "Good to hear I'm still as dashing and charming, even in another world."

"You forgot vain," The Doctor added, ducking away as Jack took a playful swing at him.

The parallel Doctor looked at Rose out of the corner of his eye, had been looking at her for a few moments now. The way she laughed, the way she brushed the stray locks of blonde hair from her face, the way she got excited and screamed-all nearly the same.

"We should be landing on Gallifrey in I'd say...about 6 minutes. It's so far out there-takes the old girl a bit longer to reach it." The parallel Doctor whispered in her ear.

"Will they...accept us? Humans on Gallifrey?" There was a hint of worry in her tone as she locked eyes with him. As excited as she was...she was a bit scared.

"No worries, Rose. As long as you're with me, you'll be alright. We're an old and mysterious race, but we're far from cruel." His voice was soft as he spoke to her, his eyes shifting every few moments or so to check the monitor above their heads.

Suddenly his eyes widened-how could he have forgotten?

"I almost forgot-tonight is the night of the changing sky. Oh-we couldn't have picked a better time to come home, Rose." His voice rose with excitement as he spoke.

"What's that-the changing sky?"

The parallel Doctor was about to answer her, when the Doctor spoke first. "It's the first night the sky changes, Rose. Half of the year the sky burns bright orange, like I told you before. The next half of the year, the orange fades into a deep purple-bathing the entire planet in an irridescent purple glow. It is absolutely beautiful..." As the Doctor spoke his mind was transported back, all those many years. It was a night of celebration-celebrating life and beauty for the whole of Gallifrey. He remembered as a boy, looking up to the sky as it passed in color, his family gathered around him. His mother, father-brothers and sisters. Then in later years, his wife, children...

"The whole planet of Gallifrey celebrates, Rose. The Time Lords throw a huge ball-everyone dresses up, dances, feasts on the most exotic food and wines. Then we all gather on the balconies at just the right moment...and watch as the sky passes color." The parallel Doctor finished, looking down at her. "I promised Rose-my Rose-that I would take her one time...never did."

Rose was enthralled by his words. It sounded spectacular-she couldn't image watching an entire sky change color right before her eyes. She couldn't even comprehend it.

"This ball-can we go?" She asked excitedly, grabbing the parallel Doctor's arm.

"Now Rose-we said a quick pop around the planet." Even as the Doctor said those words, he knew with every fiber of his being that he wanted to go to the ball. It was something that he missed greatly-the fellowship with his own people and his friends. But he knew...the place he was going, this Gallifrey, wasn't his home. He couldn't go to the ball-even in a see of the most familiar faces, he would be a stranger.

"So you're telling me you wouldn't want to go? You said you would give up everything to go back to Gallifrey-well here's your chance!" Rose grabbed the railing around the controls as she looked at the Doctor. Her brown eyes were pleading with him, pleading with him to give her this chance.

When his eyes met her own, he knew what he should have done. He should have said no, should have stuck with what he knew was right and logical. This Gallifrey wasn't his home-it was just a rendering of it-a living drawing that would be missing a few details. But she had thrown his words back at him, the same words that he had spoken to her today out of anger. He owed it to her. Had it been an ordinary person, the Doctor would have said no, and been done with it.

But Rose Tyler, no matter how hard he tried to rationalize with himself, was no ordinary person...

He sighed, running his hand slowly through his hair.

"Fine Rose-we'll go." At her shrieks of excitement, the Doctor had to smile-he simply had no choice. There had been times when he wished he could have taken her to Gallifrey, showed her everything that had been so wonderful and so beautiful about it. At least now she would have some kind of understanding, even if it was just a copy of his home.


	9. The Doctor's Name

_*Disclaimer: This chapter contains information about parallel Gallifrey. This is only my interpretation of Gallifrey, since we have limited information about it from the show. Please do not skin me alive if you think I got "Gallifrey" wrong. Like I said, it is only my interpretation.* _

A subtle smile spread across Jack's face. The Time Lords had been so elusive-never allowing Proclomation Enforcement on their planet. Now he would get his chance-he would get to see what they were doing. Perhaps meeting the Doctor was his lucky break...

"Preparing to land on Gallifreyan soil!" The parallel Doctor screamed out, laughing as he grabbed Rose. "Quick-bring all of those controls down...easy now..."

Rose lowered the controls in front of her steadily, bringing the TARDIS down slowly. She slowed down, coming to a smooth halt. The Doctor threw up the hand brake, then looked Rose in the eye, holding out his arm for her.

"Are you ready, Rose Tyler?" The excitement in his eyes was visible as he spoke.

"Yes sir." She said with confidence.

The Doctor stood, preparing himself for when the parallel Doctor would open the doors to teh TARDIS. He didn't know what to expect, and he wasn't sure how to feel. Scared, excited, nervous...all were acceptable emotions to him.

"You ready?" Jack leaned over to whisper in his ear, but all the Doctor could do was nod.

Rose hooked her arm through the parallel Doctor's arm, and pushed open the doors to the TARDIS. "Rose Tyler...welcome to Gallifrey."

There was a moment of suspended belief as she looked out. Wonder, amazement, excitement-ever single emotion possible flooded her body. She had heard the Doctor describe it so many times, but to know it by words and to know it by actually looking upon it were two toally different things.

It was utterly breathtaking. The TARDIS had landed on a high metal ledge, and when Rose peered over all she could see was a sea of red. The grass was swaying in the breeze, like a sea of fire right beneath them. The sky was burning a beautiful orange, like it was made out of molten lava. It strethed as far as she could see, till it hit the mountains in the distance, that looked like tall creatures rising from the depths of the planet, clawing their way to the burning sky. Large bodies of water dotted the landscape, dark turquoise water running like blue scaled serpents through the red grass.

Little birds flutttered around the red grass, their feather shining with an irridescent green. "Those are Flutterwings," the parallel Doctor whispered in her ear, intertwining his fingers with hers.

"It's all...too beautiful." Rose whispered without taking her eyes off of the sight below her. Words could never do it justice.

"Those are the Moutains of Solace and Solitude. We're right smack in the middle of them." He told her, pointing to the moutains.

Rose glanced down at the ledge they were standing on, then turned her head to look behind her. They were atop a tall tower, with spires that jutted up into the sky-it was marvelous. They were in some sort of bubble-a barrier of some kind. "What is this place?" She whispered to him as her eyes traced their way up the high spires.

"The Citadel of the Time Lords..." Was his reply as he smiled down at her. Rose had always wanted to come here-she would have loved this place, appreciated it for everything that it was. He had so often taken it for granted-but it had taken her to show him the true majesty of this place.

"Thank you-for bringing me here..." She whispered back to him, squeezing his hand with her own as a tear began to form in her eye.

"Doctor-are you alright?" Jack put his on his shoulder. The Doctor hadn't said a word since he had stepped out of the TARDIS. His eyes scanned the sky, the grass, the mountains...everything was the same. Images that he had long forgotten began to dominate his mind, as if a mental flood gate had been opened.

He was home-he was finally home. Someone, or something, had decided he was worth giving a second chance to.

But there was still that nagging truth at the back of his mind-that little truth that told him he wasn't home. He could never go home-Gallifrey was lost, had been lost in the Time War so many years ago.

But it wasn't lost-it was all right here! All of it-untouched by war or hatred or malice. The burning sky, the sea of firey red grass, the mountains...even the citadel where they stood now. All safe-and this was his second chance.

No, no, no, no, no. His mind was being ripped in half-you don't second chances! Not like this you don't! This is not Gallifrey-this is an illusion, a version of home that looks so appealing. But this is not yours, this doesn't belong to you...

"Doctor?" He was suddenly jarred from his thoughts as Jack slapped him gently on the back. Rose was staring at him curiously. "Are you alright?" She asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"I'm always alright..." He fixed a smile back on his face as she spoke, despite the fact that he had noticed Rose was holding the parallel Doctor's hand yet again. He met the eyes of the parallel Doctor, who was staring at him with a knowing expression.

"It's hard for you to take in, isn' it?" He asked the Doctor, who gave him a half nod.

"Being back here-it's unlocked memories that I thought I had packed away forever. But I suppose I should thank you..." Even though he still didn't know if he trusted this parallel Doctor or not, he flashed him a genuine smile, only for a moment. He had given him somewhat of a gift, afterall, even though he knew he couldn't keep this gift.

"Well are we going in or what?" Jack asked, turning to look at the citadel. He was itching to get inside-to see what ancient secrets the Time Lords were keeping. He would have to be very careful in here-no slip ups or rookie mistakes.

"Yes-let's go!" Rose squealed as she tugged the parallel Doctor behind her. He loved her enthusiasm-one of the things he loved the most about Rose. She was always ready and eager to explore and discover.

"Hag on just a tick-how're you gonna explain me?" In all his excitement he hadn't even stopped to consider that. It would look pretty strange for there to be two Doctors.

"We're Time Lords! All of time, space, parallel dimensions-it's part of who we are. Sure parallel dimensions are impossible-but anomolies and glitches happen all the time. That's what this is...a glitch." The parallel Doctor laughed as he explained.

The Doctor had to agree-his words were correct. Time Lords didn't get surprised by many things-although parallel dimensions were said to be impossible, with time and space there was no such thing as "impossible", technically.

The ledge that they had landed on was in reality a large balcony with a marbled floor. Acorss the balcony were large doors made of frosted crystal, several feet high. The parallel Doctor opened the door, taking a step back so that Rose could enter.

They were standing at the threshhold of a massive corridor, lit by lanters that were floating in the air high above their heads. The walls of the corridor were made up of frosted glass as well, and with the lighting Rose could see a million different reflections thrown from the walls to the floor in front of them, like a carpet of beautifully intricate shadows.

The Doctor and Jack followed behind, the Doctor taking his time to look at what he was surrounded by. Memories-soaring high over his head and swimming deep under his feet. He could see them-ghosts of people he once knew, flitting down the corridor by his side.

_"Daddy-when do I get to go to Time Lord Academy?"_

_He looked down upon his son, grabbing him up in his arms and swinging him around. "When you're older!" _

_His son smiled back at him, kicking his feet in the air. "And then I can go with you-to different planets!"_

_"I wouldn't dream of anything different!" He laughed-but a sudden noise caught his attention. He set his son back on the ground, then walked to the balcony. _

_The sky was darkening...the bright orange being pushed back. Something was coming, a distant conglomeration of sounds...what was it?_

_"Exterminate! Exterminate!" It was the bells of death, tolling in the dark, distant sky... _

The Doctor pulled himself out, realizing they were getting closer to the end of the corridor. He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking down to the floor, and hoped the ghosts would leave him be. That life was over-there was no pointin trying to relive it now.

"Jealous are we?" Jack nudged him as he was walking beside him.

"Jealous-of what?"

"Oh come on-I saw the way you were staring him down. For the past five minutes you've been doing nothing but staring at that man." He motioned toward the parallel Doctor and Rose, who had gotten a little ahead of them.

"Jealousy-stupid human thing. Got no reason to be jealous. Rose can do what she wants." Even as he said the words he found his eyes lingering on the two of them. The parallel Doctor was leaning over, whispering something in Rose's ear while she giggled.

"So-do you have a family here?" The Doctor asked, interrupting them with a faint smile.

The parallel Doctor looked over his shoulder, then shook his head. "Nah-never found anyone that I fancied. Well, anyone on Gallifrey, that is."

Up ahead was another frosted crystalline door, from which the beautiful sound of music was seeping out. It was beautiful harp music, intermingled with some kind of flute.

The paralle Doctor was getting ready to open the door, when all of the sudden it opened on its own.

A young woman stood there, draped in a beautiful green ballgown that swept over the floor. She rested a gloved hand on her hip, a smile crossing over her features as her bright golden eyes swept across the parallel Doctor. "Where've you been, Judas? I was starting to think you wouldn't make it..." The woman purred.

"Judas-who's that?" Rose questioned the parallel Doctor-surely the woman had them mistaken.

The parallel Doctor glanced down at Rose, then back to the young woman. "Judas is my name, of course. The Doctor-just a little title my mates gave me."

He let go of Rose's hand for a moment to wrap his arms around the woman's shoulders, giving her a tight squeeze. "You know I wouldn't miss this night, Andrea. Please...meet some mates of mine."

As he said each name he pointed them out. "This is the lovely Rose Tyler...that there is Captain Jack Harkness...and this one here is the Doctor!" He laughed at the Doctor's face, which was contorted into a state of complete confusion.

The parallel Doctor grabbed the young woman by her shoulders and pulled her to him, kissing her temple. "This is my dear sister, Andrea!"

The Doctor grabbed him by the shoulder, not sure what exactly was going on. "Your name is what!"


	10. Serenity

_*Yet another disclaimer: I've got a few comments about this-the Doctor and Rose are in a PARALLEL UNIVERSE. This means that although this universe shares some silimarlities with their own universe, it is NOT the same and will have some differences. Also-I have not seen the classic series. I would love to, but I do not have access to it. If any information was revealed in the classic series about Gallifrey or the Doctor, then I do not know and have no access to it, so please don't skin me alive. After all this is a fan fiction, not a historical account of the Doctor or Gallifrey or the Time War. Since I do not have this information readily available to me, then I have to use my imagination, so not 100% of this story will be canon. Also, thank you to those few (Aussieflower, meredithriddle, LillienRose, and others) that take the time to read and comment on every chapter.*_

The parallel Doctor arched a brow at him, speaking to him slowly as if he was a child. "Judas-my name's Judas. The Doctor is only a nickname I got while at the Academy..."

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but then he stopped. This place wasn't home-it was a fact that he had to repeat to himself over and over again. This Gallifrey and these Time Lords didn't do everything the same way he did.

"But Doctor-I thought Time Lords didn't tell their real names?" Rose turned her head to look back at the Doctor. She had been thinking the same thing as him.

"Parallel universe, Rose." That was the only explanation the Doctor needed to give. She nodded her head, and Andrea suddenly clapped her hands. She realized what was going on as soon as the Doctor opened his mouth.

"Parallel universe-I should have known! Though you hardly see that happen..." She spoke aloud as her eyes rested on the Doctor. "I knew something strange was going on."

She picked up the bottom of her dress, ushering them in with a wave of her hand. "Well come on-Judas' friends are welcome!"

"Wow-you guys really know how to throw a party," Jack said as they stepped inside the immaculate ballroom. The vaulted ceiling was several yards high, made of crystalline glass that reflected all the colors to the sourrounding walls. It was like a waterfall of color pouring from every wall. A band of harps was elevated on a ridge that rose up on the wall and made a little balcony, and with fultre players behind. Running alone the walls were several tables that overflowed with an abumdance of foods and deserts and what appeared to be wine.

Rose's eyes swept across the room ,looking from face to the face. All of the women were dressed in elegant ballgowns that rippled across the floor as they walked. The elder men were wearing long robes that trailed behind them, while the younger-looking men all worse suits of some sort. Children chased each other across the ballroom, ducking and weaving between the adults. Over the sound of the flutes and harps was the buzzing of people talking. In the center of the room couples danced lightly across the floor, moving with such grace and speed that they took Rose's breath away.

Judas led Rose in, and as she walked past Andrea grabbed her wrist. She met her eyes with a gentle smile. "Rose-I have an extra dress that I brought with me. I was going to change to go out to see the sky change, but you are most welcome to wear it if you wish."

Rose looked down at her own attire-a dingy t-shirt and blue denims were hardly appropriate. "Alright then-thank you Andrea."

Andrea then set her eyes on her brother, looking down at his blue denims with a look of disapproval. "You have your attire in the changing quarters, Judas. You should have known better than to come looking like that." She waved her hands and walked with Rose, taking her up the magnificent spiral staircase that sat at the front of the ballroom. It was like a fairytale...

At that time a young woman with long blonde locks stepped past the Doctor and Jack, mumbling an apology. Jack's eyes followed her to the other end of the ballroom, then he turned to whisper to the Doctor. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to mingle..." He left the Doctor's side, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Just be careful-" He called to Jack, then shook his head and turned back around. He turned a bit too fast, however, and nearly knocked a dark haired woman to the floor. "Oh excuse me miss-" The Doctor said, before cutting his words short.

She smiled at him-a familiar smile that had haunted him all of his life. Her entire face seemed to grow lighter, as she reached out and touched him lightly on the shoulder. "No need for apologies, Judas..." He hadn't heard her voice in over 200 years-it was like a little sliver of light passing through a crack in the wall of a dark room.

Her dark hair was pinned in a high bun atop her head, and her deep crimson gown pooled at her feet. "Ser-Serenity?" He gasped out, and she touched his shoulder again, cocking her head to speak to him.

"Yes Judas-are you alright? Your sister was searching for you earlier." She lifted her head and looked around, possibly for Andrea.

He could see her, plastered all over the walls of his mind. Sitting on the edge of the children's beds, reciting nursery rhymes to get the to sleep. She would sing-she couldn't stand to leave them without singing to them. Her voice would fill the room...He would always lean against the door, listening to her while the children would drift off...

_"Serenity! Serenity!" He had thrown open the door, rushing into the room. She was in seated in front of her vanity, her basket of red moon lillies resting beside her. She was fixing one in her hair-she loved to wear those red moon lillies in her hair._

_He could already hear the screaming-the sounds of alarms. She had jerked to look behind her, a calm expression on her face despite what she knew was happening. That was Serenity-she never showed fear-she was so much braver than him._

_She already knew what he was going to say to her before he opened his mouth. "I'm not leaving your side, so don't ask." She had told him in a calm voice, standing to her feet. She turned her eyes to him-those gentle, golden eyes that were so full of love and compassion that there was no room for fear. _

_He had taken her by the shoulders, meeting those fearless eyes with his own. "Please, just go..." Tears had begun to well up in his eyes as he spoke. She lifted her hand, wiping them away. "It's alright," she had said to him in a soothing tone, like a parent trying to comfort a child. "There's no need for tears, my darling."_

_"You can't stay with me, Serenity! They'll kill you!" He had shaken her roughly, screaming at her. Sometimes she could be so stubborn and hard headed. Why couldn't she understand? Why wouldn't she listen?_

_Instead of screaming back, she had touched him gently on the shoulder, her voice quiet and gentle. "I am a Time Lady. I will stand, and I will fight with my brothers and my sisters...and my husband..."_

_That was the last day he would ever see his wife._

"Judas-what's wrong?"

Her question had reached out and plucked him from the memories that drowned his mind.

Suddenly Judas ran up behind her, yelling as he grabbed her around the waist. She shrieked, then turned and swiped at him.

He laughed, catching her hand. "Sorry Ren. Couldn't help myself!" He pointed at the Doctor, who was still frozen in place.

"This is the Doctor, Ren. Found himself a little displaced from home-from a parallel world he says."

Her eyes widened, and she giggled to herself. "Oh...well that explains quite a lot. I'm terribly sorry, sir." She reached her hand out, and the Doctor took it slowly.

"Ni-nice to meet you, miss. You are... beautiful" he stuttered, feeling very foolish at the moment. He was supposed to be clever-not stammering overhimself like an idiot.

_It's not her. It's not her. It's not her. Parallel universe. Parallel universe. Parallel universe._

"Oh, why thank you sir." Her face broke into a smile as her eyes met his again.

He cleared his throat as he shifted his head back up, looking to Judas. "How do you two...know each other?" His gaze shifted from Judas to Serenity.

"We're just friends-grew up together, went to Academy together." Serentity answered, giving Judas a playful shove.

"Yeah-she was always a dirty cheat when we were kids!"

"Says you-you were the one the elders always had the problems with!" She laughed, and her face lit up.

"Somehow I believe it," The Doctor chimed in, looking to Judas. She laughed along with him, reaching out to rest her hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "I rather like him, Judas. Doctor, would care to join me for a dance?"

His breath caught in his throat at her question. "Why...alright. Can't say I'm much of a dancer though-haven't done it in quite some years now." His voice was sheeping as he spoke.

"Nonsense-even if you are from another dimension you are still a Time Lord aren't you? And if there is one thing we know how to do it's how to dance!" She entagled her arm in his and gently pulled him toward the dance floor.

"You two have fun!" Judas called loudly as they walked away. He was still waiting at the bottom of the staircase, having gotten a flute of crimson red wine from a nearby table when his sister called down to him from the top of the staircase.

He rested his free hand atop the bottom banister of the staircase and craned his neck to look up...

She was absolutely radiant.


	11. Skies of Change

When Judas's eyes scraped against her form, he had to take a step back. A long gown was draped over her, rippling behind her as she walked down the stairs, holding onto the banister. Andrea had pulled her blonde haiar up, pinning it back with a silver pin encrusted with black gen stomes of some kind.

When Rose caught his eyes, she buried her face in her hands with an embarassed smile. "Stop looking at me Judas!"

"Stop being so beautiful then!" He called back up to her, holding hid hand out for her to take.

She took his hand as Andrea descended the stairs behind her. She gasped as she noticed her brother had yet to change clothes. "Judas! The elders will not approve!"

"The elders don't frighten me, Andrea. And thank you sister," he said to her as he gave her a peck on the forehead.

She giggled, pushing him off her. "Just don't get into any trouble-tonight is not the night for your games!" She turned to Rose, her voice softening as she looked at the girl. "As for you Rose, it has been wonderful to meet you." With those words, Andrea slipped off into the crowd.

Rose waved after her, then turned back around. Her eyes swept over the room, scanning each face. "Have you seen the Doctor, Judas?" She had wanted to find him, show him the dress that Andrea had allowed her to wear. "Doctor? Doctor?"

Judas scowled as he watched her calling out to him...calling his name. He turned his head just a fraction to the side, where he could see te Doctor and Serenity. He dipped her to teh ground, then brought her back up, laughing.

The Doctor had everything...he had his Rose, his Gallifrey given back to him...when would Judas get what back what was taken from him?

"Judas-are you alright?"

He turned his back aorund around, where Rose was looking at him. "Of course-think I found your Doctor." Judas pointed to where he had just been looking through the throng of people. Rose lifted her head to look over the other people.

Her heart seemed to sink for a moment.

"Who is that he's dancing with?"

"Just a friend of mine-Serenity." He leaned down, close to her. "She was his wife, back in your world," he whispered.

Rose whirled around, her mouth opened in surprise. "How do you know?"

"I didn't know at first-but isn't it obvious? Look at the way he dances with her, the way his face is lighting up as he talks to her..." It was true-Judas hadn't known that Serentity had been his wife back in his world. But the way the Doctor looked at her, the way his eyes seemed to react as they searched her face-it was the same way Judas had looked at Rose when she had been alive. There was no mistaking what it meant.

Rose nodded, looking down at the ground. She was...happy for him. Not because she wanted to be, but because she had to be.

"Would you care to dance, Rose Tyler?" Judas asked, wrapping his hand around hers.

Rose fixed a grin on her face-dancing was just what she needed. She squeezed his hand back and allowed him to lead her out onto the dance floor.

"Did you ever dance with your Rose?" She asked as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

He stepped back, taking her with him, then another step forward as their dance was getting started. "Plenty of times-Rose loved to dance..."

Rose followed him, twirling as he held her arm up over her head, then gently coming back together with him. "Where did you meet her?"

He laughed at the memory that the question brought back. "She was hiding from an old boyfriend of hers-decided the TARDIS was a suitable hiding spot. Turned around and boom-there I was!"

He dipped her, then brought her back up gently...

_"Why don't we dance, Rose?" _

_She only laughed-what a daft idea! "Dance? You know I can't dance!" She tried to turn away, but he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him._

_"Nonsense! I'll teach you!" He had taken her hand in his, holding her closely._

_"Doctor-I can't! I'll look stupid-" She tried to get away but he wouldn't let her._

_"Just let me lead-and you follow me! Just like this..." He had taken it slow with her, moving carefully so she could follow his steps. They were quite a pair-dancing around the controls of the TARDIS._

_After a few minutes, she was starting to get the hang of it. She rested her head on his shoulder, allowing him to move her with a gentle rhythm. "I...quite like this, Doctor."_

_"See-told you it was easy. Me and you-we'll go to the Changing of the Sky on Gallifrey one day. Big ball, lots of food and dancing. You'll love it I promise." He rested his head atop of hers, feeling the silky strands of her hair on his cheek._

_After that day, him and Rose danced all the time in the TARDIS._

He twirled her again, only to pull her back to him in one fluid motion. "So your Doctor-are you two good mates?"

"I'd like to think we are-but sometimes I am not so sure about what he thinks. He's very...it's like one minute he's saving my life, and the next he's telling me he'd drop me off at the next planet if he could."

"Doesn't sound like a good mate if you ask me..." He whispered, taking a few steps back as Rose followed.

"He means well-he really does. Best man I've ever known, to tell the truth. It's got to be tough being the last of your kind." As Rose spoke, she snuck a peek at the Doctor-he hadn't even once glanced her way.

"But he's not the last of his kind here, Rose..."

"You're right-he isn't..." Suddenly a very scary thought struck her. As Judas pulled her back to him, she wrapped an arm around his neck and asked him, "You don't think he'll want to stay here, do you?"

Judas met her eyes with his own, his voice calm and gentle as he spoke to her. "Look around you Rose-his planet and his people are here...his family..."

"But they're not his family-not really." Her mind wandered bacl briefly, to the last time they were in a parallel dimension. "The Doctor told me that the people I know here-well, I don't really know them at all. Same faces, same names...but not the same people at all."

"I suppose that's true, Rose. But that was when the Doctor was speaking to you. This place and these people-well they belong to him. It's easy to see the truth when referring to other people, but to see the truth when it comes to yourself...much more difficult."

Rose gasped, breaking away from Judas and holding her hands to her face. He was right-he was so right...

Judas draped an arm ove her shoulders. "Come on Rose-let's go out to the terrace. Much less noise." He guided her through the masses of people, opening the large crystalline doors that opened onto a large marble terrace, similar to the ones the red TARDIS had landed on.

"But he wouldn't-he wouldn't really stay here, would he?" She asked, a tear spilling out onto her cheek as she looked up at Judas. They stepped out onto the marbled ground of the terrace, and he closed the large door behind them.

"I can't answer that for you, Rose, but even you said that he told you that if given the chance he would return to Gallifrey and forget all about you. For him, this is that chance..." He guided her to the railings of the terrace, then lifted his hand to wipe the tear from her cheek.

"Don't cry, Rose..." He whispered to her.

"I...I couldn't stay here, on Gallifrey. I'd have no where to go. Never see my mum, or Mickey..." As she spoke, Judas took her hand, then lifted her chin up to look at him with his free hand.

"Rose Tyler, you certaintly would not stay here. We'd go back to your world in my TARDIS, just you and me. You deserve more than some alien time traveler who would drop you like an old hat if something better came along. You might be a companion to him to keep him from getting lonely, but to me you're so much more..." He let his hand drift from her chin to her hair, where he brushed through the long, silky strands.

She smiled, wiping the tears from her face. "You know, I've waited for the Doctor to say those same words to me..."

"I'm not him, Rose. I can never be him-but I can be so much better. I'm willing to give up my home, Rose...all for you. I love you."

She turned away for a moment, wrapping her arms around herself. "These words aren't for me, Judas, though I wish they were. Your words-they're for your Rose, the one you lost-"

Judas pulled her back to him, turned her so that his eyes were locked on hers. "And you're right, Rose. I did lose her...and you're about to lose your Doctor. Listen...I'm not asking you to love me, at least not yet. I'm just asking you to come with me. We're the same Rose-can't you see? I've lost something so important to me, and you're on the verge of losing something just as important to you. My Rose gave me a chance, and that is all I want from you. A chance..."

Rose took a step back, looking over the edge of the terrace at the red grass below. He had no idea how bad she wanted to give into him, to climb inside his red TARDIS and fly away...but she could't. She couldn't leave the Doctor behind-she loved him.

"I...I can't Judas. I love him." Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. Judas took her around the shoulders and pulled her to his chest. She layed her head against him, crying tears of sadness and hopelessness.

She was slipping away again-he was going to lose Rose again. No, no, no, no. Please, Rose, please...

He laid his head atop hers, and a tired smile cracked across his face as her blonde hair scratched against his chin. "He doesn't deserve you, Rose Tyler."

"He told me once, a long time ago, that I'd die and he'd go on all alone. We'd never grow old together. It wasn't something that he wanted." Her voice was muffled as she was crushed against his chest.

"But you see-that's the thing with me. I know you'll grow old, Rose. And I'm willing to be there. Your age-it makes no difference to me. If being alone after you die is the price I have to pay, I'll pay it." He closed his eyes, whispering to her.

She lifted her head to look at him, and he lowered his chin to stare back down to her. "A chance, Rose-that's all I want."

She finally smiled through her tears. A chance-that was all that he was asking for. She had made her decision a long time ago that she would never leave him...but he was leaving her. She didn't want to believe those things he had told her in the TARDIS-she wanted to believe he had said those things out of anger, but now she knew the truth. And she couldn't stay here...Gallifrey was not a place for humans. After everything they had been through together, she never thought it would end like this, but all she wanted was for the Doctor to be happy. He had flated around space in guilt and misery for so long-it was time for him to find happiness, even if that meant leaving her. Rose wouldn't complain.

She wrapped her fingers around Judas' fingers. The Doctor had always been there to save her, and now wasn't any different. Granted it was the parallel Doctor, but it was still him. And Judas was kind and silly-he was wonderful. Maybe...just maybe...

She had made her decision. "Alright, Judas. I'll go with you..."

Judas laughed-relief spreading over him. He had gotten her back-a second chance. This time, however, he wouldn't mess it up.

The he did something that even surprised himself. He leaned down and he kissed her, his lips brushing softly along hers. It caught Rose off gurd, but she didn't pull away. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her sorrow beginning to intermingle with happiness.

Suddenly the bright orange sky began to glitter like it was made of millions of diamonds. Judas broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against hers. "It's the sky," he whispered, "It's beginning to change."

They both turned their heads, watching as a faint purple streak started to appear over the horizon. Judas had wrapped one hand around her waist, pulling her close to him. Rose watched in amazement as the purple streak snaked across the sky.

There was a commotion behind them, and the large crystalline doors opened as people began to mill out onto the terrace. All of the teraaces and balconies would be full of people watching as the sky changed, and down on the ground people would be watching the spectacle from the grasses, little children staring up in wonder.

"Thank you for this," Rose whispered up to him without taking her eyes off of the sky above them.

"No, Rose Tyler-thank you." He whispered back, planting a kiss on the top of her head.


	12. I Believe in Her

*This chapter takes place simultaneously with chapter 11: Skies of Change. I am sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed-I am still working on pacing.*

"Doctor-you dance so very well!" Serenity giggled as the Doctor dipped her nearly to the ground, pulling her up with a certain ferocity.

"I always had the best dance partner back home." He replied as she twirled her effortlessly, bringing her back to him once again.

"Oh Doctor-don't tell me you have a mate?"

The question caught him off guard, and he almost let go of her. He cleared his throat, shaking his head. "Yes, well, no, well...not anymore."

It was so hard-though he slapped a smile on his face, inside his mind was warring with itself. He knew Serenity was dead, but here she was, right here in his arms..._No, that's not her. You know it isn't-snap out of it right now! Your cleverer than this!_

"Oh...I'm sorry." She looked down at the ground, mbarassed that she had brought up something that was none of her concern.

"Quite alright, Serenity. My whole planet-its gone..."

Her head snapped up to look at him, a bit of confusion in her eyes. "Gone? Whatever do you mean?"

He took two steps to the side, keeping in perfect time to the harp music as she followed him. "Back in my dimension Gallifrey succumbed to the last great Time War. My family, my people...all gone. Back there I am the Last Time Lord." 

"How tragic...to be so alone..." She whispered to him as she twirled in his arms. She let her eyes linger on his face...Judas, but not Judas at the same time.

"Oh I wouldn't say I'm alone. I have my companions...Rose is who I travel with now." As he said her name he smiled a bit, then looked around the room, trying to search her out. "Strange-I don't see her anywhere..."

_Probably off with that Judas_, he thought to himself.

"Rose? What kind of creature is she?" Serenity moved her head, trying to follow the Doctor's gaze around the room.

"She's from a planet called Earth-a human."

Serenity laughed, following his graceful steps, her arm around his neck like a serpent. "I should have known. Judas always kept such close company with humans."

"Too close if you ask me," The Doctor muttered under his breath, but Serenity caught it.

"Judas isn't so bad-gives the elders a bit of trouble at times, but he is a good man. He was always so popular at the Academy-I've always had a bit of a...crush on him, I guess you say," she said sheepishly.

"A crush-on him?" The Doctor's voice rose in bewilderment as he rose an eyebrow at her unbelieveable words.

She chuckled, rubbing her fingers on the back of his neck, then her voice grew somber as she spoke the new few words. "Judas got tangled up with another human-though he would never tell me her name. Said he loved her...but she died a few months back. He's been a bit...troubled ever since."

He rememberd Judas telling him about her-his Rose that was murdered on Earth. As much as he wanted to dislike him, he knew he couldn't. To lose someone like that...he couldn't even imagine losing Rose...

The song ended, and they stood in silence as the flutes began to rise in volume. It was the beginning of a new song.

"Care for one more?" Serenity asked with a smirk as he held her hand out to him. The Doctor nodded firmly, taking her by the hand and pulling her toward him.

"So tell me, Doctor, because I am dying to know. Did you know me in your world?"

The music seemed to muffle as she asked her question, then die out completely. People still danced, and laughed and talked, but there was no sound for him.

_"Serenity-give me that back!"_

_"You'll have to catch me first!" She had sprang across the bed and out the door, holding an old leather bound book that had belonged to him._

_He could only laugh and roll his eyes as her as she took off after her._

_"Oh come on-you run like an elder!" She called over her shoulder. She bolted out of the front door, her white gown billowing in the wind behind her. _

_"I'm just taking it easy on you!" He laughed as he was steadily gaining on her._

_She screamed as she ran barefoot over the red grass, twisting everytime he got close. _

_"Come on and get it then!" She held his leather bound book over her head, turning back around to run back toward the house._

_"No you don't!" He called and grabbed her around the waist, tripping them both up. Serenity tumbled over the soft grass, pulling him down with her. He landed on her, with the both of them laughing. She rested her hand on his back, and leaned up to kiss his forehead. "I love you."_

_He ran his fingers through her hair, studying her face. "I love you too."_

"I...I did know you, Serenity." For once he let himself smile. He couldn't keep these memories and ghosts in the hallways of his mind anymore. "You were someone very, very special to me. You were my wife."

She gasped, stumbling as she was following his step. She fell forward, and he caught her in his arms, looking down at her. "I know-it's a bit...wibbly for me too." He laughed as he spoke to her, watching her face carefully.

"Well, this is quite embarassing." She said with a grin as the Doctor pulled her back up to her feet. They were standing in the middle of the dance floor, with hundreds of people tiwrling and spinning around them.

"Well I wouldn't say embarassing-just not a normal meeting-your husband from another dimension and all."

"I guess not...Would you like a glass of wine? I could sure use one right now." She ran her hand across her face, trying to hide the red that was brushing across her cheeks.

"Not much for wine, but when in Rome do as the Romans do-or, Time Lords. Whichever applies." He followed her through the amsses of people to an extravagant table that was topped with massive plates of mean and fruits.

Serenity wrapped her fingers around the handle of a beautifully ornate pitcher, pouring two goblets of the rich burgundy wine.

She raised the goblet to her lips and loked away, nervous to look at him. He rested his arm on her bare shoulder, his tone calming. "No need to be embarassed, Serenity. I enjoyed the company..."

He trailed off, not entirely sure what he meant by that. The company of another Time Lord? The company of his dead wife?

"You are too kind, Doctor..." When she turned back around to face him, his eyes were tracing circles across the skin of her cheek.

Not her. Not her. Not...The more he looked at her, the more he felt that he was losing this battle that he was fighting with himself.

She trailed her fingers down his arm, a smile lighting upon her face. "You know...you could always stay here, with me..." She took a step closer to him, laying her head right below his chin. She listened to the beating of his two hearts-thump thump thump thump. Four beats...four rapid beats...

She had never laughed like she had tonight...A man had never given her that. But this Doctor-he wasn't like the others. He was...so different, but he had felt so familiar to her...

The air caught in his throat at her words. Stay here...stay here...stay here...

"I...can't. Rose-I'm responsible for her. For her planet-I've protected it for so long, I couldn't possibly stop now." Images of Rose ran rampant through his mind-he couldn't leave her behind.

Her eyes softened as she pulled away from his chest to look at his eyes. She ran her fingers down his jaw line. "Perhaps this is your reward, then Doctor. You've been given a gift-you'd throw it all away for some human girl?"

She wrapped her fingers around the back of his neck, then pulled his lips down to hers. It was unexpected, but the Doctor didn't pull away. He wrapped his arms around her waist...breathing her in...

She smelled like Serentity-she even tasted like her. It was her. What had he been thtinking-he couldn't leave. She was right-he had been given a great gift. He deserved it-everything he had done, all the people he had helped...This planet, these people, even Serentity...they were all his for the taking.

"No!" He screamed out, pushing himself fiercely away from Serenity. The music stopped abruptly, as everyone turned to stare at him. Serenity appeared horrified, holding her hands over her open mouth for a moment.

The Doctor grabbed his head, looking around himself. Rose-where was she? Without thinking he ran, pushing past people. He didn't want to be here anymore. They had to get out of there.

He pulled open the doors to a small balcony of the east side of the ballroom, running out as he heard the music behind him start up slowly again.

The air felt good as he collapsed to the ground, almost like he was suffocating. "Doctor-what's wrong?" Serenity had followed him, and she knelt down beside him, stroking his hair.

"You're not her-she died! My wife is dead" The Doctor cried out, tears beginning to rake across his cheeks. He stumbled to his feet, jerking away from Serenity as she held out her hand to help him.

"I don't want to be her! I don't want to take her place-I just want to give you back your home." Her voice began to weaken. "I've been alone too Doctor. You and I could be good for each other."

"No I can't stay here-not with you. You're lovely, Serenity-beautiful and charming, but this isn't my home. Gallifrey-it's all gone!" He backed up against the railing of the balcony, his hand shaking as he reached out to take the railing.

"It's not gone you stupid man-it's right here! Beneath your feet and over your head!" She screamed at him, pointing to the sky.

"This is your Gallifrey-not mine." HIs voice was starting to lower as he tried to calm himself. He couldn't believe how foolish he had been-almost consvincing himself that this was all real. It was all illusions-illusions of things that once were but were no more. This wasn't home-it was a pit stop-albeit a stupid one.

"What's wrong with me? Why can't you stay here? You're a Time Lord-you belong with your own people, not some human girl!" She fell to her knees, her palms scraping against the floor of the balcony.

The Doctor crouched beside her, quiet for a few moments as he watched her. She heaved with every breath she tried to take.

"I'm sorry," he finally whispered to her, putting his hand gently on top of hers. "There isn't anything wrong with you Serenity. It isn't you...it's this world." He looked away, at the ground as he spoke. "And its Rose...I love her. The stupid Doctor went and fell in love with a silly human girl. I couldn't leave her-she's the one thing I believe in above all things." He chuckled to himself in disbelief. He had never admitted that aloud.

Serenity slowly lifted her head, brushing away the hair from her face that had fallen out of her high bun. Though the tears were still there, she managed somewhat of a smile as she nodded her head faintly. "You sound more and more like Judas, you know."

The Doctor took her by the shoulders, helping her to stand to her feet. "I'm sorry, Doctor, for my outbrust. You are right-this world isn't yours, and though you seem like a glorious man-I have no right to try and keep you here. This Rose girl...does she love you as well?"

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm not even sure anymore..."

Serenity laughed softly, then proceeded to push him toward the door. "Well go then...find your Rose before the sky starts to change. Tell her how you feel..."

He looked at her once more, then took her hand in his. "Serenity...had things been different and not so...complicated, I might have stayed here, with you. In some ways I wish I could, but the universe just doesn't work like that-"

She put her fingers to his lips, nodding. She knew what he was going to say-there was no need to say it. "Just go Doctor," she said as she kissed his cheek.

He smiled at her, turning slowly to take the sight of her in once last time before his back was to her. He'd miss her-he knew he would.

But then, he'd have Rose Tyler to keep him busy, and with a smile he disappeared through the frosted crystalline doors.

He had a feeing his Serenity would have been proud of him in that moment.


	13. Jack's Discovery

_*This might be the last chapter I write for the next couple of weeks. My husband is home from military training for the next two weeks, and I really want to spend the next two weeks with him, but I will try to get on here and update. I promise you though that this story still has a few more chapters to go, and I have ZERO intention of stopping, just might be going on hiatus for a couple weeks.*_

Jack leaned against a table in the back of the ballroom, sipping wine from a goblet as his eyes swept across the room. He had been chatting with the young blonde woman, until another had come and stole her away for a dance.

He watched the Time Lords and Ladies very carefully, studying them as if he was a scientists studying animals in the wild. He was searching for something suspicious, something out of the ordinary, something that would give him some kind of clue of why this ancient race wanted their society to be so hidden. Of course he could find nothing amiss—they didn't seem to be hiding anything, at least no that Jack could see…yet.

But he knew there was something, something that he couldn't see. There had to be a reason why they didn't want Proclomation Enforcement hanging around their planet.

He glanced down at his goblet, noting his reflection in the burgundy wine. He didn't notice the elder that had come to the table. He plucked a few grapes from the large basin that sat on the table, his eyes never even reaching Jack.

It wasn't until another approached the elder that Jack turned his head slightly.

"Sir, I must ask to speak with you…"

The elder turned, patting the man's shoulder with a laugh. "Feel free to speak to me then!"

"Sir I must ask that we speak in…much less company than this. It's about Earth." The other man took the elder gently by the arm, lowering his voice.

If Jack would have been a dog his ears would have perked straight up. He turned away, pretending that he was busy with something else. He was suddenly very interested in the conversation between these two men-of all the galaxies and all the planets, why would Earth be on the minds of one of the most ancient races in all of time?

"Oh must we speak about such matters tonight? This is a night of celebration!" The elder tried to brush the other off of him, but he was a persistent one.

"I'm sorry sir, but this is a priority matter. There is no time to prolong it." The man's voice became stern and unyielding.

The elder sighed, looking around himself for a moment before holding his hand in the air. Jack noticed out of the corner of his eyes that he had made some sort of signal with his fingers, but he couldn't make it out exactly.

Jack kept his head turned, though he could see four more of the elders moving through the crowd.

It was a signal to them, Jack thought to himself, lifting the goblet to his lips. But he couldn't focus on the taste because he was focusing on listening to them.

"Rastik had just informed me that we need to speak about what is to commence tomorrow night. We will do so in my quarters." The rest of them nodded, exchanging looks with each other. Without another word the elder struck out, weaving his way through the dancers as the rest of his group followed. They smiled and waved, exchanging words that Jack could not hear with others.

He let them get halfway across the ballroom before he made a move. He eased himself from the table, making sure never to take his eyes from the group of elders.

He moved slowly, working his way through the throng of dancers, keeping his eyes out for the Doctor or for Judas, but never seeing them. The elders were speaking among themselves, and when they had reached the front of the ballroom they walked up the stairs of the grand staircase in a single file line.

At the bottom of the stairs, Jack looked around, making sure that no one would see him, then he slipped up the stairs in silence. He was a trained officer—he had had lots of practice in stealth while out in the field.

He was very alert as he trailed up the stairs behind the elders. He could hear their whispers, but was too far away to make out anything that they were saying.

At the top of the stairs he crouched behind the banister. He waited a minute, then peered carefully around the banister. The elders were walking down a long corridor, and at the end was another large crystalline door.

When the last of the group closed the door behind them, Jack bolted from the top of the stairs. He raced down to the end of the corridor, stopping short as he got to the door.

He opened it carefully just a crack, closing his eyes as he listened for any sounds. There was faint whispering, but it sounded like it was at a distance so Jack took his chance and slipped through the door.

Inside the doorway was another corridor, but this one was so narrow only one could go at a time—which explained the single file the elders were walking in.

The corridor was somewhat dark, which relieved Jack as he crouched low to the floor, following the corridor down to where light was glowing.

Jack followed the corridor down to where it opened to a large, opulent chamber. The walls were covered in beautiful tapestries, and large orbs of light floated from the ceiling.

The elders were configured in a circle, sitting at a large table that seemed to be carved from stone. Jack didn't move into the chamber—instead he remained in the corridor, shadowed by the darkness.

"As you all know, tomorrow is the night we have set. Have all the arrangements been made?" It was the voice of a woman that was speaking as Jack was now in hearing range.

"Most everything is in place. Only one or two loose ends that should be tied up by morning," another said.

"Are we sure there will be complications? The last thing I need is for Proclomation Enforcement to try and nose their way into this…" It was the voice of the elder that Jack had seen downstairs, the one that didn't want to be bothered on such a "night of celebration."

"I can assure you sir—everything is in order. By this time tomorrow Earth will be no more."

Jack was shocked—what did they mean Earth would be no more? Did they know something was going to happen that he didn't know about?

"Well I'm glad-Earth is such a pitiful planet. I'm glad we get to destroy it." He said as he laughed.

Jack's first reaction was to jump to his feet-but he knew he would be outnumbered. Even if he could possibly take down all of the elders, Gallifrey would never let him leave alive.

He stood slowly to his feet-his mind ablaze with a million questions? Why would the Time Lords want to destroy Earth? What did they have against it? Did Judas know about this?

He slowly backed away from the sound o the laughter emanating from the chamber. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he knew one thing.

He had to find the Doctor and Rose.

"Doctor! Doctor!" Jack yalled out as he got to the bottom of the staircase. His eyes raked over the ballroom, but he couldn't see any familiar face.

He ruwshed through the crowd, mumblng his apologies as he bumped against everyone. He tossed his head in every direction, calling out fot the Doctor.

A relieved smile lit upon his face as he finally saw him, emerging from outside. The Doctor gave him an odd look, and Jack was nearly out of breath as he sohved his way to him.

"Everyone quickly-the sky is beginning to change!" Someone yelled across the ballroom, and as the music abruptly died the crowds of Time Lords and Ladies made their way quite noisily and excitedly to the doors that lef to the balconies and terraces on the ballroom level.

But Jack wasted no time. "Doctor-the elders. I followed them upstairs. I don't know how or why, but they are planning on destroying Earth tomorrow night!" Jack spoke in hushed tones.

"Jack-what are you talking about? That Gallifreyan wine gone to your head-"

"Listen to me!" Jack nearly screamed at him, grabbing his shoulders. "I overhead them talking and followed them upstairs. They were talking about destroying Earth! Why would I lie?"

The Doctor scoweled at him for a moment. "Jack, Time Lords aren't outright murderers-"

"Maybe in your world they aren't-but what do you know of the ones in this world? No wonder they keep themselves surrounded in mystery-if Proclomation Enforcement knew about this they'd be swarming the place...nevermind Doctor-I'll handle this on my own." Jack was starting to get frustrated, and turned to run when the Doctor grabbed his elbow.

"Now hold on a tick Jack-I don't know what's going on here, but we should find Judas. Maybe he knows what's going on here-I don't know why they would want to destroy Earth, but if they do have some sort of scheme in mind, then I plan on stopping it." His voice grew grim as he spoke.

He sprinted past Jack, turning his head in ever direction.

He had to find Judas...if he found him he would find the answer.

And Rose.


	14. Dead Space

Judas smiled slightly at the commotion that seemed to suddenly surround them, as the others spilled out onto the marbled floor of the terrace.

Every eye was on the sky, watching as it orange swirled with the dark purple, almost as if someone was poruing paint into the sky. Every eye...except those that belonged to Judas. As people shuffled in around him, he took a step closer to Rose, glanced down to take her in.

Her eyes were wide as they stirred across the sky, lost in amazement. Judas was about to open his mouth to say more to her, when someone tgently tapped his arm.

"Andrea?" It was his sister, smirking at him as she crossed her arms to her chest.

"The Doctor and his friend are calling for you Judas-from the ballroom." She informed him. She had seen them as everyone was filinf through the doors, searching about the room almost like they were in a panic. "You'd better hurry-sounds important."

Despite the number of people that were around them, it wasn't hard to hear there. Everyone was nearly silent around them as they all watched...their eyes not daring to lower from the wondrous thing that was happening just over their heads.

Judas' eyes darkened slightly at his sister's words, but he smiled nontheless. "Alright then-guess I better go find them. Thanks Andy." He laughed, calling her the one name she detested as he turned on his heels.

_Not again. It was my fault before, but I swear I'll die myself before I let it happen again..._

"Be right back-gotta take care of something else," He leaned over behind her and whispered in Rose's ear.

She drug her eyes from the sky and turned quickly to him, grabbing his forearm, her eyes bearing into his. "You're coming back, though, aren't you?"

"Of course-I always will." He smiled as he leaned forward again, planting a small kiss on the top of her head, then turned to walk back into the ballroom, moving carefully through the crowd.

* * *

><p>When Judas closed the large crystalline doors behind him, a familiar voice-his own voice-called out to him. He glanced across the ballroom, where he saw that the Doctor and Captain Jack were coming back in from one of the balconies.<p>

"We've been searching for you everywhere, Judas. Jack here is a bit perturbed-seems he heard something strange." The Doctor stopped a few yards from Judas, measuring his movements carefully.

"What's going on here Judas-why are the Time Lords so hell bent on destroying the Earth!" Jack screamed and tried to lunge at Judas, but the Doctor grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Easy now, Jack! Let's hear his explanation." The Doctor glanced back up at Judas, his eyes narrowing. "Alright then-explain."

"Oh, that." Judas only laughed, shaking his head. He walked past the two of them, then called out to them over his shoulder without stopping. "Follow me then-I'll show you what the Time Lords do in this dimension."

Jack managed to get out of the Doctor's grasp, chasing after Judas. The ballroom was empty, so they didn't have to worry about fighting through people. The Doctor was more cautious than Jack-he followed behind them, but at a much safter distance.

Judas moved to the left of the grand staircase, where there was a door located. He opened it in silence, revealing a spiral staircase that descended into dimly lit darkness. Jack was about to step down until the Doctor grabbed his shoulder.

"And where are we going, exactly?" His voice was level as he spoke. He really wanted to trust Judas, but things were starting to get a little strange, even for him.

"Don't worry-I'm not going to push you down the stairs, if that's what you're thinking." Judas smirked as he spoke, meeting the Doctor's eyes with a bit of a spark. "It's just the changing quarters. I figure any moment now those doors will open and all of those people will come flooding back in here-bringing all that noise and chaos, and what I want to tell you is going to take a bit longer than a few moments."

The Doctor saw something move in Judas's eyes, though he wasn't sure what it was. "Alright then...let's go." He spoke to Jack without taking his eyes off of Judas.

The door was shut behind them as Judas walked last in line. Small orbs of light shed light across the stairs, making it easy to see. But as much as those orbs could illuminate the path before them, they could not illuminate the truth...

The Doctor waited with the silence, listening as the footsteps behind him echoed off the walls like a chorus.

"Tell me, Doctor...what were your Time Lords like on Gallifrey?" Judas voice cut through the silence, almost like a shark slicing through murky water.

"What does that have to do with anything?" The Doctor turned his head to stare at Judas, guarding his voice as he stepped onto the flat ground from the bottom step.

"Are you trying to change the subject?" Jack's voice dripped with venom as he whipped his head back, but the Doctor grabbed Jack's shoulder, squeezing it in a soothing manner.

Judas held his hands up as she shook his head. "Not trying to change anything-just a question." Judas then took the lead, walking ahead of the both of them down the dimly lit corridor that stretched ahead of them.

The Doctor fell in behind him, studying his movements for a moment before answering. "On Gallifrey we had a strict policy of non interference. Time Lords were to be obervers only. That was of course, before the Last Great Time War."

Judas stopped at a large stone door, pushing his palms flat against the surface and moving the somewhat heavy door back. Inside the rooms were racks of clothing, small benches, and ladders that lead to lofts above their heads. Though the Doctor and Jack stood in the doorway, Judas crossed into the room, letting himself nearly fall onto one of the benches.

"Ahh yes, wars. We've had our own fair share of wars here." He motioned for the two to come and sit with him. The Doctor walked through the threshold cautiously, taking a seat on a bench across from Judas. He glanced behind him at Jack, who hadn't moved but instead was watching Judas like a hawk eyes its prey.

Instead of addressing Jack, Judas locked eyes with the Doctor. "We had one particular war, several years ago...it's known throughout these parts as the War of Restoration. My people, myself included, fought an alien race called the Kessians. Super intelligent yet physically weak creatures that housed themselves inside bodies made of iron..." Judas' eyes fell to the floor, right in front of the Doctor yet miles upon miles away.

An image of a Dalek flitted through the Doctor's mind. He had no idea what Judas was aiming for, but he would wait and listen.

"The Kessians came as friends, at first. We'd never seen their particular race before-they had somehow fallen into the cracks of the universe. We weren't aware of their reputation for betrayal...slaughter. They wanted my people for allies-brought gifts to Gallifrey. We were stupid, so stupid. We accepted their gifts, formed this alliance with them."

Suddenly his voice grew harsher, and his eyes scraped against the Doctor once more. "Then the second we turned our backs, they struck. They hadn't come for an alliance-they had come for our technology, our planet. A lot of people don't know about the Kessians, but everyone knows about the Time Lords. Their numbers were so great. It rained blood for weeks-first they would press in, then us, then back to them, then us again. Death hung over us like a cloud, both sides losing warriors every minute. But in the end we came out victorious-only we had lost so much of Gallifrey that it was a bittersweet victory. We were forced to rebuilt-the citadel that we sit in at this very moment was built upon the ruins of the old Gallifrey. Thus, the War of Restoration."

"And what's this have to do with your people killing my planet off?" Jack's voice drifted through the darkness, hitting Judas like a stab in the chest.

"Well after the war the elders understood they had made a mistake. They trusted a little too easily...but they found a way to remedy that. They would make sure the Time Lords never fell victim again. The Elders, and other high ranking Time Lord officials, travel to planets all across the universe, both near and far. They stay a little while, observe the inhabitants, the culture, the rituals-all planets that appear to be a threat or that don't live up to the standards and critera of the Elders...get obliterated. It's their safety net-their way to ensure Galifrey stays safe."

Suddenly it all made sense of Jack. That was why the Time Lords despised Proclomation Enforcement-they were murderers. If Proclomation Enforcement knew about these practices, they would be swarming this planet.

"You can't do this, Judas! What right do you have to destroy an entire planet?" The Doctor cried out in anger, standing to his feet so fast that the bench tumbled over behind him.

"Oh I used to be against it too Doctor," Judas spat out his name bitterly. "That's part of the reason I left after the war. I'm not a murderer. I despised what my people had turned into-it made me sick to even look at them, so I fled. I came to Earth, found...Rose."

"Would your Rose want this?" The Doctor ask, trying his best to soften his voice.

"My Rose is dead!" Judas screamed at him, his eyes flickering with what most would consider anger, but the Doctor knew the look in those eyes well-Judas was drowning in his own pain. "Killed by her own people-her own planet! That's when I realized humans are barbarians-they murder, torture, cannabalize their own people!"

Judas tuned to face Jack, who was trying to keep himself from tackling the bastard to the ground. "When I heard Earth was the next to be destroyed, I nearly wept tears of joy. That is when I decided to come back to Gallirey."

The Doctor, for as much anger that coursed through his body, kept his face devoid of emotion. So that was what the Time Lords had been reduced to in this dimension-murderers. He nearly counted himself lucky-being the last was a far better fate than becoming a monster.

"I'm asking you to help me stop this, Judas. This is your warning-I give no second chances."

Oddly enough, Judas began to laugh, running his hand through his hair. "What does this one planet meant to you anymore, Doctor? You're back home, with the people you love...with Serenity. You have no need for this Earth, anymore."

Suddenly the Doctor began to understand. Thick, thick Doctor, who had been staring at the truth all this time, yet was too blind to see it.

He pointed a finger at Judas a he spoke. "It was you, wasn't it? You sent that signal from your TARDIS that brought us here."

Judas began to clap slowly. "You're a clever one now, aren't you? Surprised it took you this long to figure that trick out."

"How did you do that-how did you amplify the signal to the point where it would cross dimensions like that?"

Judas pulled his boxcutter from his back pocket, switching it on. "I'll admit it took a bit of jiggery pokery on my part," then he wiggled the lazer in his hand.

Of course-sync up a lazer with a signal, then use the massive energy reserves of the TARDIS to broadcast it to another dimension. For as crazy as Judas was, he was a genius alright.

"Where's Rose?" The Doctor's tone shifted angrily as he was starting to realize Judas had a plan for that signal all along.

"She's on the terrace, waiting for me. She wants to stay with me, Doctor. It seems your words have stuck in her heart." Judas smirked. "Everyone wins here, don't you see? You have your family and your planet, and I have my Rose."

"She isn't your Rose, she's my Rose!" The Doctor screamed at him without thinking.

Judas' eyes suddenly widened. "She doesn't love you, you know. And you don't deserve it-she told me those awful things you said to her. You honestly think one says that to the person they love?"

"Rose won't let you do it, you know. She won't let you destroy her home." The Doctor said through gritted teeth, trying to gain control of himself.

"That Earth isn't her home, Doctor. Even you told her that."

"But that's just the thing with Rose. Her compassion and her love for others-it doesn't matter if that her home or not. She won't love you anymore if you obliterate that planet like a pile of dead leaves!"

"It won't be me-it'll be the Elders. And that's why we'll leave this place-we'll cross back into her dimension...she'll be home, and it'll be like old times." Judas voice lightened at those last few words.

"Judas...let me help you. This whole scheme you've mapped out in your head...it's wrong. It's all wrong. We were never meant to cross over into separate dimensions-you'll leave gaping holes in your universe." The Doctor reached his hand out to Judas, his voice gentler but still containing an edge.

For a moment the two men locked eyes...they were staring at themselves, two different men that were the same. They each had something that had been ripped away from the other.

Tears crept into Judas eyes. "It's not wrong," he gasped. "It's never wrong with Rose." He shakily lifted his lazer boxcutter into the air, and flicked the switch. A harmless lazer blazed a beam across the room, and Jack was about to make a move when the Doctor held a hand out to him to be still.

"This beam...it contains void energy." Judas explained through his tears.

The Doctor was suddenly very alarmed. That lazer could have enough void energy to transport whatever it touched to the void-a place where he wasn't so sure he could come back from.

"Judas-you don't want to do this. I know you don't." The Doctor held his hands out in front of him, trying to think of a way to get that boxcutter away from him.

"You're right Doctor, I don't. But I tried to give you a gift-an exchange. Everything that was taken from you, in exchange for what was taken away from me. But you spat on my gift..." With those words he suddenly flicked a switch, and the lazer beam grew in intensity.

"Judas noo-!" The Doctor's scream was cut short, as his body was broken down into tiny atoms that dissipated into the void.

"Doctor!" Jack cried out and lunged for Judas, but he was too fast for him. Judas turned on his heels, hitting Jack sqaure in the chest with the beam, causing him to suffer the same fate as the Doctor. They weren't dead, but they would be trapped forever in the void.

Judas wiped the tears from his face, sliding the boxcutter back into his back pocket. He propped the bench back up, then walked out of the room, not daring to look back.


	15. Welcome to the Void

Jack wasn't sure how long they had been sitting there. It seemed like only a few moments, but he wasn't exactly sure how time worked in this place. He could have been sitting there for hours, staring off into nothingness for all he knew.

Jack was lying on the floor, staring up into what he at first thought was a bright light. But it wasn't a light-he was staring up into endless whiteness, a whiteness so pure that it appeared to be a light.

Jack leaned up on his elbow, his head slightly throbbing. He swung his head slowly around, seeing nothing but an endless sea of white. It almost appeared as if he was in a huge painted room, but with no walls and no ceiling, and no...floor?

Jack jumped to his feet, a bit too fast, and nearly fell to his feet. He held his head in his hands and leaned down-nope, no floor. But it was odd-he could feel the floor beneath his feet. He knelt down slowly, but couldn't make out any kind of flooring material. He looked around again...a big seas of white...

When he turned around to look behind himself he saw the Doctor, lying on the ground with his arms and legs stretched out, looking like he was trying to make snow angels.

"Doctor-what is this place? Last I remember...I was running towards Judas..." Jack tried to think back, but the memories in his head were fuzzy at best. Still, he could have sworn he had charged after Judas...

"Welcome to the void Jack...the nothingness between dimensions." The Doctor spoke without enthusiasm. He didn't try to get up.

"The void?" Suddenly the memories came swirling back into his mind, like a slideshow packed with pictures of old birthday parties and famly vacations. Judas, holding his strange boxcutter-lazer thing-he said it was full of void energy. Am image passed through Jack's mind of Judas pointing it at the Doctor, then the Doctor disappearing into atoms.

So Jack was right-he did charge at Judas, but Judas had turned the strange device back on him. Thus, they were both here, in this strange place.

"Is the void always this...white?" Jack asked as he looked around himself in a full circle. There was nothing but white-no furniture, no trees, no houses. An endless plain of white.

"No one knows exactly what the void looks like, Jack. But if I had to guess, I would say that Judas transported us to a void vessel of some kind-with some kind of perception filter so that we percieve it as being a neverending white room instead of a ship." The Doctor spoke with no emotion-he wouldn't even look at Jack as he spoke to him.

"I think I understand...maybe." Jack plopped down beside the Doctor, the pounding in his head beginning to fade.

"There's not much to understand, Jack. Judas won. We're trapped here, and without my TARDIS I have no way of getting us out."

He had let them down-let them all down. Jack, Rose, the humans on this Earth...everyone. Stupid, stupid Doctor, who was now paying the consequences for what he had let happen. And Rose...one of the few people who had ever believed in him, put every ounce of her faith in him...

"Maybe it's better this way..." He thought he had whispered it to himself, but Jack turned his head to look at him.

"What's better this way?"

For once the Doctor shifted his eyes to gaze at Jack without turning his head. He still hadn't moved from his spot. "Rose with Judas. The things that I said to her, Jack...such awful things. You're not supposed to say things like that to the woman you love."

Jack chuckled to himself, peering down at his hands. For some reason that even he didn't know, the rage that had consumed him earlier had vanished, leaving him feeling somehwat peaceful. What would anger accomplish now anyway? It wasn't like he could beat the walls down and free them. "Humans-we say things all the time we don't mean. Sometimes we cut the people closest to us more deeply than our worst enemies. Part of what makes us human, I guess."

The Doctor finally pushed himself up, turning away from Jack as he spoke to him. "But I'm not human Jack. I don't act like you."

Jack chuckled again, stretching his legs out infront of him. "Oh I think you're a bit more human than you think Doctor. You know, you Time Lords are supposed to be this ancient race, regal and superior...but can't you're see that your just like me?"

The Doctor turned his head, arching a brow at Jack. "I didn't mean to say there was anything wrong with humans, Jack. Your species is a very brilliant one with loads of potential-"

Jack shook his hand at the Doctor. "There you go again-talking about the human race as if we were caged animals in a zoo, with you as our warden."

The Doctor stopped talking for a moment, then turned back around to face away from Jack, dipping his head slightly. "I meant no offense, Jack."

Jack shook his head with a laugh. "None taken. It's not just you-almost every alien species that I catch while doing this job says the same thing. Humans are weak or inferior or unintelligent. Apparently we're just livestock to the rest of the universe. But we're not-Doctor tonight I saw a hundred different emotions course through your veins. Anger, surprise, jealousy, joy, pain-for someone so alien, those are very human emotions, don't you think?"

The Doctor shook his head reluctantly-he had to agree with Jack. Then something happened that he didn't expect-a small smile cracked across his lips. "You're right Jack. About everything-and you're not livestock. You're brilliant and compassionate and full of passion and loyalty and love for your planet."

The Doctor had to stop for a moment to think about what he had just said, which led his thoughts to slide back to Rose. Of course she had rubbed off of him-it would be stupid for him to think otherwise. She had made him a better person. No, Jack was defintely right-nothing wrong with being a bit human.

"Well thank you, Doctor. Though I'm not sure how much good my compassion and love is going to do us here." Jack's voice fell a bit as he spoke.

The Doctor closed his eyes, knowing what Jack meant. "I'm sorry Jack. I am so, so sorry..."

Jack laughed softly, but even the Doctor knew it wasn't a genuine laugh-more of a nervous sort of laughter a person doen when they're trying not to cry.

Suddenly Jack pushed himself to his feet, so quick the Doctor turned to make sure he was alright. "No need for apologies-because we're not gonna be stuck here. You and me are gonna scour this place until we come up with some kind of plan, no matter how long it takes."

"Jack I'm sorry-really very sorry, but without my TARDIS there is no way out. We're not trapped in someone's flat-we're trapped in the void. There's no doors or window here."

"So that's it then, Doctor? Rose is out there with him, and you're just gonna lay down and die here?" Jack crossed his arms, glaring down unbelievably at what the Doctor was telling him.

"We won't die here Jack-"

"Yes we will!" Jack cut him off as he grabbed the Doctor around the shoulders, almost yelling at him. "We may not die physically, but if we don't at least try then we might as well be dead. If you don't try, then everything that you are will die. You'll be a breathing shell of a man, trapped here for so long that you won't even remember how you got here!"

"But she's better off with him, Jack! He really loves her, and he'll care for her and treat her like she deserves to be treated. He won't tell her that he'd drop her off at the next planet if he could, and he wouldn't make her cry!"

"Is he you?" Jack grabbed him by the shoulders and jerked him to where he was a few inches away from his face.

"No."

"Then she isn't better off with him! What would Rose do, Doctor?"

The Doctor thought for a moment. He knew exactly what she would do-kick and scream her way out of the void. If anyone could escape this place, he knew Rose could. Rose would never leave him-she had had multiple opportunities to do it in the past. She always said she had made her choice.

And her choice was with him.

Suddenly a thought struck the Doctor so hard, his head literally throbbed for a moment. He snapped to his feet, grabbing Jack's collar. "You don't by chance happen to have your mini teleporter on you, do you?"

The Doctor's quick actions threw Jack off balance a bit, but he figured his words must have struck a chord in at least one of his two hearts. He reached to his back pocket and pulled it out. "Of course-never go anywhere without this thing. But there's no way we can teleport outta here with this-no way its strong enough!"

"In any other situation, you would be correct Captain Jack Harkness. But this situation isn't any ordinary situation, and I am no ordinary Doctor!" He flashed Jack a grin before he snatched his sonic screwdriver out of his front pocket.

"We're lucky this thing isn't made of wood." He chuckled at his own little joke as he grabbed the mini 'porter and scanned it with his sonic.

"Though I admire your enthusiasm, how is this going to help us?" Jack was a bit skeptical.

The Doctor flipped his glasses over the bridge of his nose without even looking at Jack, examining the 'porter for another minute. "Welll...yep, I think that did the trick..."

"Doctor!" Jack snatched him from his concentration for a tick.

"Oh right-well you see Jack, you were right in your assumption that this little device is not strong enough to teleport us out of the void. That would just be absurd!" The Doctor started laughing, then cleared his throat. "Yes, well, you see the sonic is wired always be able to locate the TARDIS-my TARDIS- and with the boosted strength my sonic has given this mini teleporter combined with the already phenomenal strength of the TARDIS, it should be just enough to teleport us right back to my TARDIS. It will be barely enough energy, mind you, and to be completely honest I am not even sure this is going to work...but it is well worth a try!"

The Doctor punched a few numbers on the little number pad-the coordinates of the TARDIS, and hoped that this little idea would work.

"You ready to get back and save your planet, Captain Jack Harkness?" The Doctor turned his head sideways to give Jack a long glance.

Jack gave him a grin. "I'm always ready. You ready to get back and save your Rose Tyler?"

The Doctor nodded his head once, then said, "Jack, there is always a word I use when we are in dire straights, an ancient, powerful word that shakes men to their very core."

When Jack gave him a confused glance, the Doctor grabbed Jack's shoulder and shouted "Allonsy!", then slammed his finger down on the red button on the 'porter.

The two of the men seemed to melt into a trail of particles that disappeared up into the sky. Here one moment, then gone the next...


	16. Converging

The sky was now a deep purple when Rose turned around, a smile appearing on her face as she saw Judas closing the large crystalline doors behind him. Most of the crowd was milling past him, going back into the ballroom.

"Where did you have to run off to?" She reached out and took his hand, the noise around them beginning to rise as people started talking as they were walking back in.

"Oh-nothing. Just some old friends having to leave out early-wanting to say their goodbyes to me." He smiled back as he squeezed her hand.

"You didn't happen to see...Jack and the Doctor, while you were in there, did you?" Rose's voice dropped as she asked, and her eyes fell to the floor.

He was taken aback by her question for a moment before he started to speak. "I...did. The Doctor wanted me to tell you goodbye-he couldn't bear to do it himself. Serenity is going to take Jack back to Earth, and then her and the Doctor are off do some...travelling of their own."

"So that's it then?" Rose couldn't help feeling a current of sorrow overwhelm her. She said she would travel with Judas, but to leave the Doctor without even getting to say goodbye, the man she had grown to..._No, no, no. That's all over Rose-it was fun while it lasted, but those days are all over now. Time for a new adventure_. She told herself as she looked up to meet Judas' eyes.

"I guess it is, darling. Are you ready to leave now?" He spoke gently to her.

She turned around, looking up at the deep purple sky. There was still so much of this world to see..."I was wondering...if it would be ok if we stayed just tonight. There's still so much more to know about this place..."

Rose looked up at him, a hint of a tear glittering in her eyes. Though Judas wanted to leave this place, he couldn't say no to her. After everything that she had endured this day, she needed to rest.

He kissed her on her forehead, and nodded. "Alright-we'll stay this night, and we'll go back to your Earth tomorrow." Though he hated the Earth of this dimension, he thought maybe Rose's Earth would be different.

Hand in hand they walked across the terrace, Judas opening the door for her her so they could slip back inside the ball room. People were still dancing, the music was just as loud, and there were still plates of food to be consumed.

* * *

><p>Jack leaped to his feet as he felt the concrete below him. He twirled around himself, feeling somewhat out of breath as if he had been running. Buildings-there were buildings! And the sky was above them-clouds! Wonderful, glorious clouds! Jack cried out, running both of his hands through his hair.<p>

"Oh you did it Doctor-I knew you could!" He turned and grabbed the Doctor enthusiastically around his shoulders, pulling him in for a tight hug.

The Doctor just laughed-somewhat in joy and somewhat in relief that the idea actually worked.

"I think you helped a bit, Captain Harkness." He pulled away from Jack, overjoyed that the TARDIS was exactly where he had left it a few feet away from them. "Well come on then-haven't got all day."

"I've got to let Proclomation Enforecement know of this Doctor-we could use all of the help we can get."

The Doctor thought about it for a moment. At the very least they might be able to buy him some time. He nodded as he opened the door to the TARDIS. "Brilliant idea Jack! But one thing-your planet is not to harm Gallifrey. Defensive measures only." With those words he closed the doors to the blue police box.

Jack blew on his communication device, and right away a rather angry voice sounded from it.

"Jack Harkness where have you been? We've been trying to reach you for some time now-"

"Commander, with all due respect sir I really don't have time right now. What I am about to tell is of the utmost importance-we must act fast."

After a moment of silence, the commander's voice came through once more. "Alright, Harkness. What do you know?"

"Sir, the alien race known as Time Lords from the planet Gallifrey are planning to obliterate the planet. I don't know what weapons they hold."

"The Time Lords? Harkness are you sure?"

"Sir I was in the room with them when they said it." Jack could imagine the sheer look of confusion on the commander's face as he said those words. But no matter how absurd they sounded, Jack had done for a long time now, and the Commander would always trust him.

There was no sound from the communication device for a moment or two. "Thank you Captain Harkness-I'll inform the other agencies. From this moment on we will be under high alert."

Jack had almost forgotten- "Commander-we can't strike first. Defensive measures, only. Please." Jack had never though he would ever have to beg his commander, but he knew the Doctor's reasoning behind this. It wasn't all of Gallifrey that was doing it-just the Elders. They couldn't destroy a whole plant of innocents-they would be no better than them.

"You have my word, Jack." With that the Commander logged off, and Jack stood still for just a moment, looking around himself. This was his home-and this was his chance to save it. He had wrestled and ensnared his fair share of alien refugees, but this was his chance to actually save the people and the places that he loved. He wouldn't let them down.

He stepped to the TARDIS and opened the doors, to see to Doctor running around the controls, hitting buttons and pulling levers.

"Any luck?" He posed the question to Jack without ever looking up from the control panel.

"Yes-my commander is informing the rest of the agencies. He gave me his word, Doctor-defensive measures only."

"Brilliant-you may have just bought us some time, Captain Jack." Or not-the Doctor didn't even want to think about the other consequence.

Jack grabbed onto the railing around the controls, noting this particular police box was silimar to Judas' own. "So do you know how to drive one of these?"

"Do I? I'm going to pretend like you didn't just ask me that daft question!" The Doctor called to him as he pulled one last lever, causing the TARDIS to begin to vibrate.

"Hold on Jack-here we go!" The Doctor yelled out, as a loud "whooshing" sound overtook them, and the Tardis began to disappear.

They were headed back to Gallifrey-the Doctor remembered the coordinates Judas had used for his TARDIS, and now they were hurtling toward the orange planet with the purple sky.

The Doctor only had one thought on his mind at that moment.

_Hold on Rose. I'm coming to get you. _

* * *

><p>The Elders were drinking wine, watching the dancing with laughter and jokes. Rasillon was their leader, the one that Jack had first saw at the table, but of course he wouldn't have known his name.<p>

Rasillon was lost in his laughter, when a young Time Lord broke through the crowd-a member of his Guard, Helix.

"Good to see you this evening, Helix-" Rasillon greeted the young Time Lord, about to say more when Helix blurted out some alarming news.

"Sir-it's Earth. We're not sure how-but word has gotten to them about your plans." Helix's eyes were wide with fear and uncertainty.

The Elders gasped, but quickly lowered their voices. They all looked to Rassilon-his anger was apparent in his eyes.

"Come here Helix." He took him by the shoulder and led him to the far corner of the ballroom, where he could speak to him in absolute privacy. "Now, do you have any idea where the Humans could have gotten this information from? Any at all?"

The rest of the Elders were speaking quietly among themselves-did they have a traitor in their midst? Was their a breach of security? A spy from somewhere else perhaps?

"Sir the only other piece of information we have is that there was a signal coming from Earth that we managed to capture. The signal's source was another TARDIS."

Rasillon gritted his teeth in anger-only another Time Lord or Time Lady could pilot a TARDIS. That could only mean one thing...

"One of our people was on Earth then. A traitor-they probably warned them." Rasillon turned to look around the room, a scowl spreading across his face. "Gather the rest of the Guard, Helix. There are a lot of things to be done in a relatively short time."

Helix nodded and disappeared back into the crowd. He knew what Rassilon's words meant.

"What are we going to do, Rasillon?" The Elder whispered to him desperately as he returned to the group.

"The only thing we can do. We destroy them tonight, before they have any chance. The quicker we strike, the harder they'll fall." He turned and made his away through the crowd, with the rest of the Elders falling in behind him. They knew exactly where they were going-high atop the Citadel, where there most devestating weapons were kept.

By morning there would be nothing left of the Earth.


	17. Rose, Please JustStop

Inside the ball room was even louder than before, with everyone talking about the spectacle that had just happened over their heads. Judas felt like he was shouting to talk to her, when a thought ran through his mind.

"Do you want to go downstairs, Rose? See the grass and the real beauty of the planet?"

"Yeah-I think I'd like that." She allowed him to lead her to another corner of the ballroom, where two large doors slid open for them. They were stadning in a large, glass cylinder-obviously some sort of elevator.

Rose placed both of her hands on the glass, peering out onto the outside world. It was supposed to be night, she assumed, but it wasn't as dark as she would have thought. There were creatures fluttering around, creating streaks of light across the hills and grasses that stretched out in front of the citadel.

Her mouth opened in amazement at the irridescent streaks of green and purple and blue that dashed across the grass.

"Those are called Illuminaers, Rose. They resemble the butterflies of Earth, but their wings are made of a glass like substance. When the white moonlight shines through their wings, it seperates through their wings and makes those colors that you see." The Doctor whispered in her ear as he leaned behind her on the glass, seemingly reading her mind.

"Everything here, Judas...it's all so beautiful. There's nothing like this on Earth." She was speaking to him, but couldn't take her eyes off of the beautiful colors as they neared the ground floor.

He glanced down at her and laughed softly. "Rose, your Earth has given me the most beautiful thing I could ever think of."

"Oh Judas-stop!" She swatted him playfully, then leaned her head against her shoulder. "We're you telling the truth when you said you had no family?"

"I'll always tell you the truth Rose. And no-Andrea is all that I have left." His mind flashed back to the war. So many deaths...he had been one of the lucky ones. He had survived where his mother and father didn't...

He was forced to shake his head. No-no more sadness, not with Rose here. "What about your family Rose? Your mum and this...Mickey fellow?"

"Oh I could talk about them all night," she laughed. "My mum's name is Jackie. She can be a bit difficult-her and the Doctor fight all the time-" She stopped herself, then peered through the glass again. "Well, they used to fight all the time. She can be a bit stubborn at times. Then there's MIckey." She chuckled again as she thought of the bloke. "We used to date back before...the Doctor. He's a good bloke. He always waited for me...whenever he heard the TARDIS he'd come running. Him and my mum."

Her hair was starting to come down , and she slipped the loose strands behind her ear. She blinked back tears as she lifted her hands to her face. "Here I go-Rose Tyler, who cries at everything." She didn't realize how much she missed them until just then.

"You'll be home tomorrow-I promise. You can introduce me to your mum and this Mickey bloke." The elevator had come to a halt, and the doors slid open smoothly in front of them.

Judas took her hand gently in his and stepped out into the room. It was the ground floor of the citadel, but tonight it was quite empty. No one treaded down the halls-everyone was upstairs in the ballroom.

Rose stepped out behind him. "I'm not even sure how I'm going to explain you."

Judas squeezed her hand as he chuckled. "Oh we'll think of something..." He led her down a long hallway illuminated by the same floating spheres of light. The doors at the end weren't made of crystal, but of glass, and Rose could make out a garden on the other side of the doors.

"This is the courtyard of the citadel, Rose Tyler..." Judas announced as he opened the doors wide for the both of them. She gasped as she stepped out-large trees with silver leaves shimmered above her head, and vines that twisted dropped down form the canopy, bloming with purple, irridescent flowers. The sound of running water fell to her ears-the source a small river of swiftly moving water snaking its way through the trees.

Under their feet was the same red grass that had strectehed out in front of the citadel. "Judas..." Rose whispered his name, looking above her head.

"I know-wonderful place, innit?" He took a peek at her and walked forward, kneeling down by the river and dipping his hand in. Tiny, muticolored fish scattered, hiding under rocks.

A flash of light caught Rose's eye, and she looked to her left. One of those butterfly creatures was flying right by her-what did Judas call them, an Illuminaer?

She held her hand out and it landed, giggling as it tickled her fingers. It flapped its wings slowly, sending little streaks of green and violent and pink dancing in the air. Judas turned, watching her for a moment.

She held her hand in the air, letting the little creature lift off, illuminating the darkness. "Did you ever bring Rose here, Judas?" She tilted her head down to look at him.

_"Can we go to Gallifrey?" She pleaded with him._

_"Gallifrey? You have the whole of time and space at the push of a button, Rose, and you want to go to Gallifrey?" _

_She laughed, grabbing him by the sleeve like a child. "Pleeeease!"_

_He laughed at her persistance. "We'll go...some other time. I'll take you when the sky changes...I promise."_

But he had broken that promise.

He shook his head, blinking those thoughts away. "No...I never brought Rose here." He turned back around to stare into the water, trailing his finger over the surface.

Rose sat beside the water with him, pulling her knees into her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees. "Why not?"

_Because I didn't want to bring her to a planet ruled by monsters._ That was the answer that he wanted to give her, but of course he didn't say that.

"I guess...sometimes you take your home or granted. There was so much out there to see...I didn't want to come back to boring old Gallifrey." He laughed at himself, flicking the water form his finger as he laid back on the grass, staring up at the sky.

Rose followed suit, lying beside him on the grass with her arms under her head. "Yeah...I think I know what you mean. Last time I was back home mum was saying I don't come back often enough. But it's like...when you're out there, home just...I don't know, isn't enough I guess. There's nothing left for me back home, not after all this..."

She suddenly gasped and rolled over to look at him. "I'm pratt'lin' on, ain't I?" She covered her forehead with her hand and started to laugh.

"Oh no-prattle away." He assured her with a shrug.

_Because you have no idea how much I've missed it._

She was quiet for a moment, as her hand found his. She stared up at the dark purple sky, wondering if he was staring at the sky too...

"What now Judas? What'll we do?" She whispered, not looking away from the sky. Would it be the same...could it ever be the same?

He rolled over on his side, propping his head up on his arm as he looked at her. "Whatever you want, Rose. We'll go to the last star in the whole universe, or we'll go to the planet next door. Just say the word...and we're there."

Rose licked her lips and peered down at the red grass beneath them. It was soft to the touch-like they were laying on a blanket of velvet. She suddenly lifted her head, hesitating a moment...then pressed her lips against his, softly.

He closed his eyes as she connected with him, when suddenly she pulled away and rested her forehead against his.

"Judas-I'm not...her. Please don't put all your hope and faith in me, because...I'll never be her. I'll never be your Rose-"

He silenced her with a second kiss, then pulled back once more to look at her. "You've been my Rose since the second I walked into that alley and saw you."

A smile broke over her face, and Judas suddenly pushed himself to his feet, holding out his hand to her. "Come on, Rose. Let's go for a walk."

She looked up at him, tracing his his features with her eyes. The points of his dark brown hair, down to his eyes, across to his cheeks...

She placed her hand in his and let him pull her up. He intertwined his fingers with hers, and together they walked, slowly through the trees on a path of tiny pebbles that shined brilliantly whenever a hint of light landed on them.

They walked for a little while in complete silence, stealing glances at each other when the other wasn't looking. Trees bordered the path on either side, with silver leaves that waved high over their heads. The river ran through the trees, just out of sight.

Rose could hear the murmurring and chirping of creatures high above their heads in the trees as they came to the egde of he courtyard. The trees started to thin, only to give way to a vast stretch of grass. Rose clutched at her throat-it looked as if the grass was on fire, a fire that stretched all the way to the base of large, looming mountains that were topped with snow.

"You see those hills, just there?" Judas spoke softly in her ear, pointing to a few gently sloping hills that formed at the base of the mountains.

"Yeah-I see them."

"That's where I live-a small cottage on the side of the largest hill."

"And you live there-all alone?" She lifted her head up, and he tilted his head down to look at her, shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess if alone means just me." He chuckled a bit to himself as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

Not alone anymore.

"I love you, Rose Tyler." He finally said those words to her. She stared at him in silence for a moment, then slowly began to speak. "Judas-

Suddenly the sky split open for the briefest of moments, and for just a second, Rose could have sworn she saw the familiar blue police box flying high in the sky.

"Is that the TARDIS?" Rose squinted her eyes, but by the time she got a good look at it, it had diasappeared over the Citadel.

"I didn't see anything Rose." Judas' hands balled into fists-how was that even possible? He had sent them to the void-and as much as he had hated to do it, he knew they shouldn't have been able to get back.

But Rose knew what she had seen-and more than just seeing it, she could feel it. She had some kind of connection from riding in it, like it was reaching out and touching something deep inside of her.

Rose whipped around, pulling her hand from his grasp."Judas-I'll be back, I promise. But I have to say goodbye to him-even if he doesn't want me anymore. I can't leave this place without at least saying goodbye." She tore away from him, running down the pebble-strewn path...away from him...

"Rose!" Judas reached out to grab her arm but it was too late. She had disappeared down the path. "Rose please-stay with me!" Judas cried out, not even bothering to wipe away the tears as they started to trace their way down his cheeks. He chased after her, pleading silently for her to stop.

Stop, Rose. Please just...stop.


	18. The Boiling Point

As the TARDIS stopped moving, the Doctor opened the doors and spilled out, with Captain Jack behind him. They appeared to the be on the same terrace they had landed o the first time, evidenced by the red parallel TARDIS that rested on the other end of the terrace.

For a moment he thought he heard voices coming from somewhere below them. He peered over the edge of the terrace, peering down to what appeared to be a courtyard below him.

Voices. Two very familiar voices...and suddenly a flash of blonde hair.

Rose.

His fingers curled even tighter around the banister that ran along the edge of the terrace.

And Judas...

The Doctor knew what he wanted to do-leap over that banister and scoop he up in his arms. Apologoize over and over until his words lodged firmly in her brain, make a thousand promises that he would kill to keep...

But he wanted to do, and what he did were two entirely different things.

"Jack...are you sure what I'm doing is right? He'd never hurt her like I did...you sure he isn't the best thing for her?" The Doctor turned slowly to face Jack, who was loading some kind of weapon...preparing himself for what he knew was coming.

Jack stopped, lifting his head so that his eyes met the Doctor's. "It doesn't matter what I think, Doctor...What do you think is right?"

Jack didn't move as he watched the man, the alien man who had just appeared in his universe with a strange blue police box...

Instead of answering his question, the Doctor looked down at the ground, stuffing his hands in his pants. "Back in my world, there's a human saying-if you love something let it go. If it comes back then it's your forever..."

Without warning Jack began to laugh. "Are those really words of wisdom back in your dimension?"

When the Doctor nodded, Jack laughed even more. "That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard." He stopped for a moment to wipe the tears from his face. Were people in other dimensions really that stupid to believe that? What kinda world did the Doctor and Rose come from?

He noticed the look of confusion on the Doctor's face and he grew serious again. "Look, I can't tell you what to do. All I can tell you is that your little words of wisdom sound like the excuse of a coward."

Jack's words struck the Doctor-he had saved whole planets and races of people. He was a survivor, a warrior...but a coward? He had never thought of that word to describe himself, but maybe...

"When you love something you don't let it go," Jack continued, his voice growing, almost as if he was angry at the Doctor. "You grab it and hold on to it as long as you can-you've got to fight tooth and claw for everything that you care about. If you don't, then who will?"

_Rose would_. Those two words hit the Doctor so suddenly. He knew it was true-Rose would have fought.

_I've made my decision a long time ago, and I'm never going to leave you._ Her words ecchoed in his mind-words she had spoken to him long ago-bringing a slight smile to his lips. He was so thick sometimes...

He opened his mouth to say something to Jack, when the crystalline doors behind them suddenly swung open.

The Doctor's eyes flew to the door, suspecting at first it was just someone coming out for a bit of fresh air, but there was no way he could mistake that blonde hair for anyone else.

She took one step onto the terrace, letting the doors close behind her. She had planned so many things to say-words that the Doctor would hopefully remember her by. But she should have known better-when it came to anything to do with the Doctor, plans normally went out the window.

She wrapped her arms around herself, looking down at the ground as she spoke. "I just...I just wanted to come say goodbye, that's it. And I'm happy-for you. It was...it was fun, Doctor." She didn't want to lift her head-didn't want to look at him for fear that she might collapse and never get back up.

He didn't say anything-what could he say now? Instead he ran-ran faster than he'd run on Gallifrey from the Last Great Time War.

_Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose..._

He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off the ground, crushing her against his chest. She gasped in surprise-that was the last thing she had expected from him. She tried to control herself, but in her mind she didn't want to control herself. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, clutching him as if she would be sucked in the purple sky if she didn't. Her hair splayed across his face but he didn't care.

* * *

><p>"Rose-you don't understand-" Judas screamed out as he rammed the crystalline doors open and nearly spilled onto the marbled floor of the terrace. His thoughts were cut short-the Doctor held Rose in his arms, cradling her against his chest.<p>

Judas couldn't feel the impact as his knees slammed into the cold marble of the terrace floor. He didn't realize it until this moment...it would never be him. It would always be the Doctor.

_No. No. No. No. No. I just wanted a chance, Rose. Just give me another chance..._

"Why him Rose?" Judas cried out desperately. "What kind of man is he that I'm not?" He dropped to his hands, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. All he could see was her, slipping away from him.

Rose had jerked away from the Doctor, startled by Judas' outburst. She looked down at him in confusion. "Judas, what do you mean?"

As she took a step toward him, the Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. Jack whipped around, training his weapon at Judas with a look of hatred swimming in his eyes.

Now Rose was completely bewildered. "Doctor-what're you doing?" She laughed nervously as she tried to take another step, but he wouldn't relinquish his grasp on her.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at Judas, flickering with an inky darkness. He didn't have the same feelings for this creature on the ground a few feet away from him that he felt towards the Cybermen or even the Daleks...

No. Judas was something worse...an entirely different class of monster. He had given him his one warning, and he would die for what he had done.

But first he spoke five words-in a harsh, unyielding tone that seemed to drip venom, each word an arrow piercing Judas' chest...

"Tell her the truth, Judas."


	19. Don't Give Up On Us

Rose's eyes darted from the Doctor to Judas, fear beginning to color her voice. "The truth? Doctor what do you mean?"

"Tell her Judas!" Even Jack flinched as the Doctor screamed out, pointing accusingly at Judas's pathetic form laying crumpled on the ground.

When Rose tugged at her arm this time, the Doctor reluctantly let go-he wasn't worried anymore. If Judas tried to make a move, Jack would pull the trigger without hesitation-he was sure of it.

Rose knelt down in front of Judas, taking his hands in her own. She studied the tears in his eyes, offering him a bit of a comforting smile. No matter how daft everything had turned out for her, it would all turn out ok-she was sure of it. The Doctor would be happy with his own people, she would have Judas...it wasn't perfect, but it was a start...

"What truth, Judas?" Her voice was a soft whisper against his ear, but it pushed him. He squeezed her hands and pulled her a few inches closer to him.

"You died, Rose! And I didn't know what to do-I watched you die! Right here in my arms and I didn't get there in time!" Desperate words flooded from his mouth as he tried to explain in a jumble of thoughts.

He didn't see Rose kneeling down in front of him-how could he? All he saw was his Rose, laying in his arms about to close her eyes for the last time. It was really her that his explanation was for.

"I didn't want to be alone anymore, Rose! I brought you back from the dead!" His grip on her tightened just a bit, the tears on his face intermingling with the sweat.

"Judas, calm down. You're not making any sense..." Rose tried to calm him, her tone soothing as she spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Rose. I should have never let you go wandering off at night alone like that-" He choked on his own words, coughing down to the ground.

Rose turned hack to the Doctor, not quite understanding. "He thinks I'm...her? The parallel Rose?"

"Tell her what you did Judas. Tell her what brought us here in the first place." The Doctor's voice had an edge as he glared at Judas, ignoring Rose's words.

Judas finally looked up, an odd smile on his lips as he looked at Rose-actuall saw her in front of him for the first time in the last few minutes. He wiped the back of his hand across his face, a bit ashamed of the tears.

"A Time Lord's TARDIS can send out a signal-latch onto another TARDIS." Judas began to explain, with a pained expression etched into this face. "When Rose died, I tried to get on. I came back here, spent time with my own people-my friends, my sister. But three months had passed, and I still saw her everywhere I turned-like a ghost in the crowd. I'd be asleep, but I could swear she'd call to me from the next room. I'd get up and scramble through every room, just looking for her...I knew then I'd never get on. It didn't really take much-I just had to boost the signal strength of my TARDIS, broadcast the singal across the span of the universe. It would refract at the edge of this dimension, and flare out into the next. Your TARDIS was the first it grabbed, and so it pulled you here...to me."

Rose knew she should feel angry and hurt, but for some reason she wasn't. "But how did you know another version of her would be travelling with the Doctor in another dimension? He could have been travelling with someone else."

"I didn't for sure...but I had a feeling. In every dimension, Rose Tyler and the Doctor would eventually find each other. It's the only thing that makes sense to me." His smile widened as he looked at her-he knew it would be over soon, but for now it was enough. "When I first saw you examining my TARDIS, Rose Tyler, I felt like you had forgiven me by giving me a second chance."

"There are no second chances for you, Judas." The Doctor's voice cut through the air between Judas and Rose-to Judas his voice was like the death toll, reminding Judas of his fate.

Rose whipped around, staring in disbelief at the Doctor. "What do you mean-"

"I sent them to the void, Rose." Judas cut her off before she could get any further. He had told her that he would never lie to her, and if telling her the truth took her away from him, then he would have to accept it.

"Finally the truth comes out..." Jack spoke up, his finger not moving from the trigger. He was ready to pull, but he couldn't with Rose in the way.

Rose turned to face the Doctor, staring at him for a moment, then turned her head head back to Judas. "What does he mean Judas? How can you just 'send' people to the void?" Though she was confused, there was a hint of denial in her voice. This couldn't be true...there had to be a mistake...

Judas didn't speak for several seconds. He just looked at her, his mind playing back all the wonderful memories of this night in slow motion. When his voice finally did cut through the air, it was eerily calm. "He was going to take you away from me, Rose, and I couldn't let that happen. Not a second time-not when there was actually something I could do about it. A few slight modifications to my lazer boxcutter was all it took." Those were the last words he spoke, and he hung his head in shame. He wasn't a murderous monster-he didn't enjoy causing pain and suffering. He just wanted to be happy...

Just wanted her.

"Rose...get out of the way." The Doctor's voice was like a straight edge, unwavering.

She didn't seem to hear him. She held onto the Judas' hands tightly,a million different emotions coursing through her veins like a river. Anger, pain, sorrow, pity, regret, and even a twinge of relief and joy, all braided together. She knew how she was supposed to feel, how the Doctor would expect her to feel-

"Step aside Rose Tyler."

Her head whipped around and her eyes locked on the Doctor, noticing for the first time the weapon Jack had trained on Judas.

Rose stood to her feet, and for a moment Jack and the Doctor thought she was moving from the line of fire, but instead she held her ground. She knew she was only a nineteen year old shop girl, but in all her travels with the Doctor, in all of the things she had seen, the places she had gone, she had learned a few things from the Doctor. She had learned to fight for what was right, even if you have to fight all alone...

And she knew what he was about to do wasn't right.

"No. I won't let you do this." She stood taller than she had, holding the Doctor's eyes with her own.

"Rose, please-get out of the way! This man tricked you and lied to you! Tried to send Jack and me to the void, and you want to defend him?" The Doctor ran his hands through his hair, frustrated and shocked by what she was saying.

"But look at him!" Rose nearly screamed as she pointed down at Judas, who hadn't dared to look up. A small pool was forming on the marble ground, where his tears had splattered across the marble. "He's not one of your monsters, Doctor! He's a man who had everything ripped away from him! He's clever and he's brilliant-he's you!"

"I don't give second chances, Rose..."

"Well I do." Her voice was firm as she crossed her arms to her chest. Her eyes were searing a hole through the Doctor, and he finally had to turn around and stare off for a moment in the dark purple sky.

"I won't let you kill him-either of you," she continued. The next few words were difficult for her to say, but she felt it was finally time. "Doctor...I love you, and you are a good man-the best man I have ever known. But this time, you're wrong." Tears had sprung to her eyes, and her voice was a whisper by the time she got to the end of her sentence. She knew Judas could hear everything that she said, and that it would be a blow to him, but she couldn't bury it anymore.

The Doctor turned back around to face her. Though he was angered, he couldn't help but smile at her. This wasn't the first time Rose Tyler had stood between a gun and another creature-there was a time when she had proved her courage by standing between him and a Dalek. She was...the most incredible person he knew. Brilliant and incredible...and so human. In all honesty, it didn't surpise him that she was standing between them now. Rose cared...when no one else cared, Rose would care. She always saw through the darkness, though the filth and the muck and found something else.

Which was one of the reasons he loved her.

"He was going to sit by and let my people-our people, die Rose." Jack had finally spoken up before the Doctor could tell ROse that he felt the same way about her.

Before Rose had a chance to ask, the Doctor began to speak rather quickly. "The Time Lords here, Rose-they're not like in our world. They're not simply Watchers. They travel from planet to planet, sizing up the inhabitants. If they believe the inhabitants might pose any kind of future threat or are drastically different, they kill them off."

"And they just so happen to have their sights set on Earth." Jack finished off.

Instead of speaking to them, Rose spun around and dropped to her knees in front of Judas. He still hadn't looked up, too lost in his own misery and shame. He had been waiting, all this time, for that trigger to be pulled, and listening to Rose's words about him.

"Can you help us, Judas? I'm begging you." She took his hands again, pleading with him.

"I...I can't Rose. Those...people, on Earth, they were the ones that took her from me. I look at that planet and all I see is hatred and malice." He finally lifted his head to gaze at her. "I wish I could help you, Rose."

Gently she took his head in her hands, speaking to him softly. "Me and your Rose are just as human as those people on that planet. We all have our bad and our good, Judas. Do you think your Rose would have wanted this?"

Suddenly Judas heard her in his mind, just as clear as if she was standing behind him. His Rose, her dying words to him. _Just don't give up on us. Humans are worth it. _

He gasped for air, almost like he had been swimming underwater and was breaking the surface. "There is a weapon...high atop the citadel, powered by the light of the stars that refracts through the crystal walls. That's what they'll use..."

It wasn't much, but it was the only thing he could do. He couldn't bring himself to go with them, and he knew he wasn't wanted anyway. Rose had made her decision-she loved the Doctor and when everything was said and done here, she would be leaving with him.

"Thank you Judas!" She kissed his cheek, her smile worth everything.

"Alright then-allonsy!" The Doctor called out as he and Jack turned towards the TARDIS. "Come on, Rose. Leave him be." The Doctor called gently to her over his shoulder, urging her to hurry. Rose had been correct all along-he had suffered enough.

"Thank you again, Judas, for everything." She got to her feet and followed behind the Doctor but right before the two of them reached the TARDIS, she reached out and grabbed his arm.

"So you're not staying here-with that woman?" Rose had to ask-she had to know for sure before it ate her up alive.

The Doctor knew that she was referring to Serenity, but he only shook his head. "Of course not-this place, these people-they're not mine. They're strangers to me. It's just you and me-and it's been that way for quite a while." He laughed as he spoke, knowing what was coming next. "I love you too Rose."

As he leaned in close to her, Jack yelled out to them from in front of the TARDIS. "Are you guys coming or not?"

The Doctor stopped, shared a smile with Rose and grabbed her hand, pulling her along behind him as the three of them disappeared into the blue police box.

As the TARDIS began to disappear with a loud whoosh, Judas looked on, whispering lowly to himself.

"Good luck, Rose Tyler. I love you..."


	20. Shattered

_***I am sorry that it has taken me so long to update this story, but we are coming to a close here. Only a couple more chapters to go, and it has been a good one. Thank you to those readers who have been me from the beginning, and thanks to those who have jumped on toward the middle, and even now as are starting to come to a close. If you enjoy my stories, I already have a couple of chapters up of my next one, which is centered a lot around the Master, called Have A Little Faith In Me. Again thank you all for reading, and for the reviews. This is my most successful story by far thanks to you.***_

The Doctor pulled a level over his head, looking above his head to the monitor . Jack stood beside him, one hand on his hip and the other on the edge of the control board, careful not to let his hand hit one of the many buttons that spilled out before him. He didn't want to accidently explode the ship or anything like that.

"Doctor-what exactly is our plan?" Jack asked, watching him as he pulled levers and pushed buttons.

"As of this moment, our plan is to get to the roof...and stop them from destroying Earth. That sound alright to you?" The Doctor offered Jack an uncertain smile.

As Jack nodded the Doctor happened to look across the TARDIS and notice Rose. She was standing, resting her forehead against the doors of the TARDIS. She didn't notice that he was watching her, didn't notice that she was whispering something that he couldn't make out.

The Doctor pushed one more button, then turned to face Jack. "Jack," he whispered, "Time Lords, when we die...we change. I'll be me, but not me at the same time. New face, new hair, but same memories. But these Time Lords-they're different. I might not change. I might just..." He trailed off to look once more at Rose.

Though she was across the TARDIS from him, he could still make out the traces of tears that streaked down her face. "Just promise me one thing," he turned back to whisper to Jack, his eyes locked on him. "If something does happen to me, take care of Rose."

Jack couldn't speak for a moment as he looked at the Doctor, his eyes boring into him. "Good thing I don't have to make that promise-you'll be fine-"

"Jack," the Doctor grabbed his arm, his tone more serious than usual. "I mean it-promise me you'll take care of her. Get her back home...somehow."

"Ok-I promise." Jack whispered back to him. He didn't know what else to say to the Doctor-he and Rose were risking everything to save an Earth and a people that weren't even theres. Down below, on Earth, six billion strangers that they would risk their own lives for...

Jack was thrown from his thoughts as the TARDIS shuddered to a halt. The Doctor walked to the the doorway, where he stood behind Rose, waiting for her to open the door.

But she hesitated...

"I'm sorry Rose...for everything I said to you. I didn't mean a single word of it. You know-I can be so thick sometimes..." The Doctor blurted out the words as he stood behind her.

She turned to face him, but the tears were still evident in her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to wipe them away, he could still see them. "I had this tiny feeling you didn't mean them." A small smile spread across her face as she took his hand. When he saw her smile, he looked down at his trainers. There was a warmth that fizzled through him whenever she smiled, a tangible feeling that crossed amongst all species, connecting them in one way or another...

Love.

It was that same love that prompted him to say the next thing to her. "Rose...you don't have to go out there. You can stay here in the TARDIS-"

She silenced him as she pulled him down and kissed him, letting her arms wrap around his neck but for a moment. She pulled her lips away just as quickly, staring up at him with a look of mild anger on her face.

"You don't get a choice, Doctor, and neither do I. Where you go, I will go. You are the oncoming storm, and I am the eye of that storm..."

He was surprised by her words, but knew that he shouldn't be. She had stood by him this entire time...and somewhere inside him he knew she'd be beside him when all this was over, either in the TARDIS as they flew away, or bleeding on the ground as she took her last breath.

But he was bound not to let that happen.

"I love you Rose Tyler." He spoke quickly and winked at her as he threw the TARDIS doors open in front of them.

They were on the roof, with a seas of crystalline glass strewn out in front of them, jutting out at various angles. The Doctor stepped out, clutching Rose's hand, looking around about himself. It was beautiful up here, with the stars shining through the purple sky and scattering starlight over the glass ocean.

The center of the roof was a large machine, covered on three sides by large, jagged pieces of glass. "That must be the weapon..." The Doctor whispered as she took a few slow, cautious steps towards it, not being to remove his eyes from the sight of the thing. He hated guns-he really did-but even he had to admit that it was impressive.

"You would be correct, Doctor. A magnificent piece of machinery, powered by the light of the stars." The three of them turned at the sound of the voice, only to see Rassillon standing on the crest of one of the larger pieces of glass, holding his hands out to the stars.

"Let me guess...you three are strays that Judas brought here?" Rasssillon's eyes beheld amusement as he smiled cruelly down upon them, having watched them land.

"It doesn't matter how we got here-only that we're here now."

Rassillon ignored the Doctor's words as he continued to speak. "Judas always was a human-lover. He always annoyed us-the High Council. Always wanting to rebel, to fight against us. So very weak.." Rassillion suddenly started laughing uncontrolably. "He was a terrible Time Lord. He would have made a better human."

The Doctor's brow furrowed a second as he listened to Rassillon's words. "What do you mean?"

He stopped and looked back down at them. "Don't think I don't know who you are, Time Lord from a parallel dimension. I've been told about you...you look like Judas, but you aren't like him, are you? I can look at you and see the battles you've fought, the lives you taken...all of them etched in the lines of your face, in the darkness of your eyes. They're all there...You want to pretend, Time Lord, that you're different, but you're just...like...us. A warrior that protects their own. Think of all the blood you have spilled, all on your own."

In that one instant, he went back, through all the people he had ever loved. Faces, voices, all in one big whirlpool in his head. And then...his Gallifrey. The Time War. It was him-he had done it. Wiped out his own people. He had spent the rest of his existence mourning his fate as the Last of the Time Lords, and it was he that had done this to himself.

Rassillon's smile deepened as he watched the face of the Doctor. "You would do so much better as one of us, Doctor. You would be with your own people, have power and prestige and authority." Rassillon stopped speaking for a moment, before whispering, "You are broken, Time Lord, but we can mend you."

"He doesn't need you to mend him-he isn't broken!" Rose suddenly screamed up at Rassillon while squeezing the Doctor's hand. It was a simple gesture, one that filled him with more strength and courage than any gun could.

"Doctor-you let your little human pets speak for you? Perhaps you're more like Judas than I thought."

"Rassillon, you don't have to do this. The humans-they aren't a threat to you. They don't even have ships that can get to you!" The Doctor pleaded.

"Not physically-of course they aren't a threat. But those humans...they can make you feel things, emotions. Look what happened with Judas! They can sway others, Doctor, and I won't have them around. I won't take that chance again!"

"This is your one chance, Rassillon! Stop this now! You're not murderers, you're just trying to protect your people, but they're better ways than genocide!"

Rassillon laughed once again at the Doctor. "You know, Time Lord, your words amuse me. But unfortunately you're so very wrong-there is no better way. I promised my people I would keep them safe." With those words, Rassillon held up his hand, making a sign with his fingers.

The roof of the Citadel suddenly shook, dropping the three of them to their feet. "Oh no-it's starting!" The Doctor yelled as he scrambled to his feet, but the shaky roof gave him problems.

"It's futile Doctor-you might as well sit and watch as the Earth is obliterated. Guarenteed to be quite a show!" Rassillon called out to the three of them as they frantically crawled across the ground, getting constantly knocked back down.

"Something that big is going to take a few moments to warm up. Think, think, think!" The Doctor screamed as his hit his forehead with his palm. The ground had finally ceased to shake, and the the glass all around them was beginning to glow while emitting a tiny whining sound.

"Ok so the stars shine onto the glass, and it powers up the big gun thing-right so far?" Jack asked.

The Doctor nodded, staring at three large pieces of glass around the weapon.

"So we just shatter the glass-no power source, no power!" Jack seemed excited at his solution.

"That might work, only we'd need something that could shatter the entire roof." The Doctor ran his arms through his hands, pacing back and forth frantically.

"Well why isn't he sending people after us?" Rose asked as she grabbed the Doctor's arm.

"Arrogance. He thinks nothing can stop him, so why send people?" It was those three large glass pieces, something about them...something, something, something.

And then it hit him. He grabbed Jack and pointed to the three large slabs of glass, his voice enthusiastic. "We don't have to take out all the glass, just those three large pieces around it. They're the largest power source up here-the rest of this glass wouldn't generate enought power."

"Alright we know what we have to do, but how are we going to do it?" Rose was screaming now, with the whining sound generated by the glass growing louder. The weapon was nearly ready to fire.

"Yeah, and I don't think my weapon would be strong enough to shatter that glass!" Jack had to scream over it as well.

"Suddenly, Rassillon's voice rang over the noise. "I'm terribly sorry, Time Lord, but for one that holds time in the palm of his hand, it seems as if your time has run out!"

And that was the moment they heard it. The terrifying, confusing, joyous sound that was the whirring of a TARDIS.

And then they saw it-from the sky came a red TARDIS, hurdling right towards them.

"Get down!" The Doctor screamed as the TARDIS whirled through the sky, gaining speed as it careened toward them, seemingly out of control.

But instead of hitting them, it crashed right into the glass slabs that surrounded the weapon, shattering them into what seemed like a million pieces that scattered across the roof like dust.


	21. The Courage of a Time Lord

Rose Tyler had her face buried in the arms of the Doctor, laying flat on her stomach on the cold glass. A barrage of sounds attacked her ears from all directions-the screaming of someone, glass shattering, machinery grinding painfully together. Even the accrid aroma of smoke assaulted her. There was one sound, however, that didn't penetrate her ears anymore...

The whining of the glass.

She lifted her head, and the voice of her Doctor rained down upon her. "Rose, are you alright?"

"Yeah-yeah I'm ok." The Doctor took her by her forearms and helped lift her to her feet. It was hard to look around-smoke filled the air, and little pieces of glass fell from her hair to skitter across the ground.

Rose choked on the air around her, and was forced to lean into the Doctor's chest. She coughed into his coat, wrapping her fingers in the material.

"Ok...what just happened?" Jack had to wipe the tears from his eyes from the smoke as he spoke. But even though the smoke, they could see the red TARDIS clearly, toppled over on its side.

"No! No, no, no!" A voice started to scream behind them, but they didn't even haave to turn to know it was Rassillon. He shoved the Doctor out of the way as she ran past him, picking up the shattered pieces of glass that littered the roof around them.

Rose ignored his screams as she watched the red box, took in a ragged breath as she waited for the doors to open.

Another sound pierced through the smoke-the sound of running. The other members of the Council stumbled their way through the smoke, choking on the air as they called out to Rassillon. They took him by the arms, barraging him with questions of what had happened and if he was alright. He was gripping the shards of glass so tight that blood was starting to run down his hands.

In the commotion that was happening, the red doors of the TARDIS were suddenly pushed upward, and fell to the side. Rose clutched the Doctor's coat, waiting as two hands appeared over the edge of the doorway, pulling the form of another being from the inside of the TARDIS.

A gasped escaped from between Rose's lips as Judas emerged, coughing and sputtering as the smoke swirled like dust around him.

He waved his hands and coughed into his sleeve, but the smoke was beginning to thin. When he looked up, the first person his eyes hit were Rose. A goofy grin made its way to his face, and all he could do was shrug. What a glorious sight to see through all the wreckage.

Rose bolted from the Doctor's side and into Judas' arms. Though she might not have loved him, she was happy to see him alive. "That was stupid of you!" She yelled as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Yeah well...won't be the first time or the last time I crash this ol' girl into something." He laughed and picked her up, hugging her to him. He was glad that he could help her.

"Oh I can guarentee it will most certainly be the last time you crash into anything, Judas!" Rassillon's voice raged at them. Blood coursed down his robe from his hands-his precious weapon had no way of gaining power now that the power source had been demolished.

Both the Doctor and Judas stepped forward, then stopped short. They glanced at each other, not knowing what the other was going to do or say, but neither one of them cared.

"You can't do this, Rassillon. Those people down there mean something to someone, even if it isn't you. There are mothers, fathers, children, husbands, wives, friends..." Judas spoke first, taking a few steps in front of the Doctor.

He switched his words from Rassillon to the rest of the Council around them. "You're my people, and I love you, but look at what you've let yourselves become!" He yelled across the smoke that was quickly dissipating. "You're killing off entire races of beings!"

"You say that because of that human girl Judas! And look what happened to her-killed by her own people!" Rassillon snarled at him.

Judas was silent for a moment, looking back at Rassillon. "And you're right-she was killed by another human, but she was also loved by so many more. She had a family down there, Rassillon-a mother and a father that loved her."

As Judas said "father", a small twinge or sorrow touched Rose. Her father was alive here too...

"Just like the rest of you! Why can't you see-every planet that you condemn to death because you think they are "so different"...but they're not!" Judas yelled out at the rest of the High Council that was in front of them.

"Judas-" The Doctor stepped up to say something but Judas threw his arm behind him, silencing him.

"You can't honestly look at me and tell me that you all agree with this...you can call it defending your home all you want, but in the end it's just murder." Judas' voice dropped as he swept his gaze over the rest of the High Council. Most of them looked away, trying to avoid his gaze. "Do you wonder why I never brought my Rose here? I was ashamed."

"They agree with me, Judas, because I am their leader. My word is obeyed by my disciples." Rassillon's words were slow as he spoke, taking another step toward Judas. "For one so ashamed, you sure did come running back after she died." Rassillon was having fun playing with Judas, skewering his heart.

He nodded, his gaze falling to the ground as he spoke. "I was angry, and for a while there I could care less if you wiped the Earth from existence. I wanted you to-I wanted to hear them cry and scream in agony because that's what I did when she died...but before she did she told me something."

Judas wasn't aware of it, but his hand was curling into a fist, and his eyes were beginning to mist over. Though she wasn't there, he could still hear her, speaking those last words in his mind, whispering them like a mantra.

"She told me not not give up on them-the humans. They were worth it-and she was right. They are so worth it." He turned around then, to look at Rose, and he didn't feel sorrow or anger or jealousy, even though she was wrapped in the Doctor's arms. His only feeling was...gratitude.

"Thank you, Rose Tyler."

Instead of speaking she broke into a smile, but words weren't needed, she figured. Judas' words were enough.

"Well it doesn't matter what you agree with, Judas." Rassillon's cold, authoritative voice broke through the air, calling Judas' attention back to him. "After today you'll be banished from Gallifrey, and we'll just rebuild another weapon and be back where we started. You did nothing to stop us, Judas. You're only delaying the inevitable."

Judas was about to shout something at him, when a woman of the High Council stepped out, her robe dragging across the glass. Her name was Madera. She stood by Rassillon's side, and though her countenance appeared fierce, her face softened as she looked at Judas.

"I have oft heard tell of you, Judas. To give all of yourself to a person, only to lose them is a tragedy, and for yours I am so sorry. But you are correct-to commit murder for nothing more than out of sheer fear is just as tragic."

Rassillon was outraged by what he was hearing. He turned to her, holding out his arms if he was about to grab her. "Madera-what you are saying is treason! You will cut your speech-!"

"No Rassillon! It is you who will listen! Judas is correct-not a one of us agree with your plan of defense. I pride myself on not being a foolish woman, yet here I was allowing myself to be led by one! We are all just as guilty of murder!" She screamed out at the rest of the High Council, and one by one they began to nod, the guilt and shame flooding their faces as they tried to focus on the ground, tried to focus on anything that wasn't the thoughts in their minds.

Rassillon appeared speechless. He staggered backwards, shocked that his own disciples would start to turn their back on him.

"You are noble in your intentions to protect your people, Rassillon, but we cannot continue this way..." Madera spoke gently to him, taking his hand in her own.

But he jerked away from her, screaming into the air. "He has decieved you! Don't you remember the War? It will happen again-it's my duty! It's my duty!" He screamed madly in the air, and what happened next was so fast that even the Doctor, with is vast knowledge of time and space, couldn't have seen it happen.

Rassillon pulled something from his robe-there was a deadly silence, and a spark of blue. Something flying through the air, something moving with such speed, coming straight for Judas, determined to reach him...

Even as he saw the spark, he couldn't move. He was frozen-he could travel anywhere in all of time and space, and yet here he was, unable to move. All he could hear was someone screaming-someone screaming his name.

But it never hit him-whatever it was that was determined to reach him, never reached him. His first instinct was to be thankful, but instead of gratitude he was flooded with cold fear and panic as he was suddenly able to move, able to turn around.

The screaming was still in his ears, but the name-the name was different. It wasn't his name anymore, it was...Rose's name.

And as he turned, he was met with a familiar sight...a sight so familiar it was like watching a reenactment of his memories. Rose was crumpled in the Doctor's arms, and he was screaming her name, over and over.

That spark of blue...instead of meeting with Judas, it had met with Rose.


	22. Sacrifice

***This is the last chapter of this story, I am afraid. I just wanted to thank all of my dedicated readers, and remind you again that if you are interested, I have another story I am doing about the Master called "Have a Little Faith in Me." A few chapters are already up. Anyway, this story had been very fun to write, and has brought a few tears to my eye. I hope you all have enjoyed it as well.***

Judas dropped to his knees, not caring that Rassillon was running. Why her-why was it always her that was destined to die? Why was it always Rose Tyler that the Universe was trying to take away?

Jack had taken off after him, screaming for him to stop. Judas couldn't find his legs to stand, so he crawled through the shattered glass, his blood staining the roof as the shards cut into his palms.

He stopped short, looking at a picture of himself, only this was a living, breathing photo. The Doctor was crumpled to the ground, holding Rose in his arms the same way Judas had held his Rose that day.

"Someone! Get help-she's a human! She needs medical attention!" The Doctor screamed at Madera, but even he knew it wouldn't help her. The almighty High Council of Time Lords could only watch the Doctor cradling the near-dead human girl in hopelessness. Another life needlessly taken...

As Judas crawled a few inches closer, the Doctor jerked her out of his reach. "You don't touch her-you don't dare touch her!" He snarled at Judas, but it was more from his pain than his anger.

"I'm fine-I...feel fine..." Rose's voice was fading quickly, but she reached up and touched the Doctor's cheek.

"Shhhh, Rose. Don't talk-just focus on staying awake." The Doctor frantically whispered to her, closing his eyes at the contact between her skin and his. He rocked her in his arms, begging her not to close her eyes.

Rose brushed her hand across his eyes, catching his tears. "Don't cry, Doctor...not over me.."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead as currents of pain and anger jolted through his body. He wanted to lift his head and scream at the Universe-would it always be like this?

"Did it feel like this?" Although his eyes were on Rose, Judas knew the question was aimed at him.

"Like what? Like all the air is being sucked from your lungs?"

"Yeah..."

Judas only nodded, forcing himself to look at the Doctor. "And after today, nothing else you ever do will matter."

Rose coughed, looking over at Judas as her eyelids began to flutter. As she spoke, her voice became raspy, and every word was a labor. "Everything...he does...matters." Then she reached a trembling hand out to him.

Judas took it, nodding in agreement with her, though it was a slow nod. "And you're right Rose Tyler." He glanced back up at the Doctor, meeting his eye. "Everything he'll ever do will matter. That's the kind of person you are, Doctor."

The Doctor shook his head. "No Judas-that's the kind of people we are." For the first time he shared a smile with Judas. "Judas...I'm sorry. I...I was wrong. Everything you said to Rassillon-thank you."

"No-I'm sorry." He let his gaze drop to Rose. "After she died...I thought if I had her back then everything would go back to the way it was. I realize now that it can never go back..." His words trailed off as he watched Rose, watched her chest struggle to rise, then fall.

"I am so, so sorry for you, Judas." He understood now-understood that pain and the anger that drove Judas to do waht he did. He understood that need-the driving force to do whatever was neccessary. That feeling when you felt you had no choice...

"You've got to go on..." Rose's weak words brought him back from his thoughts. "The Universe...will always need...the Doctor."

_And the Doctor will always need Rose Tyler_. He didn't want to admit it, not out loud and not even in his mind, but for one brief moment he didn't care what the Universe needed. _What about me? What about what I need? _It frightened him-the thought that he he didn't care anymore.

But...wait a moment...there was a solution here. He turned his focus back to Rose, stroking her hair as his tears traced lines down his face. There was a solution here-there had been one from the start.

A smile broke across his face-a genuine, warm smile that he pulled from somewhere deep down inside of him. He leaned down and kissed Rose's forehead. "Don't you worry, Rose. I'm gonna fix this."

He kicked his leg out, sweeping away all of the loose pieces of glass, and laid Rose down carefully.

But Judas knew what it was that he was doing to do. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What choice do I have?" The Doctor spoke to him without looking up, gently placing his hands on Rose's face.

Judas grabbed his arm, causing the Doctor to look up at him with tears in his eyes. "I've seen too many that I love die, Judas. Too many that I couldn't save. I won't let her die-not when there is one last thing I can do." His voice was strained as he spoke.

"Then let me."

The Doctor almost laughed. "You don't know what you're saying, Judas."

"No Doctor-you're the one that has no idea. You think I don't know what this means? You don't think I would have done this for my Rose? But I couldn't-she was already too far gone by the time I found her."

"You won't regenerate, Judas. You do this and it'll be permenent!"

"Exactly! And what's the point?" He grabbed the Doctor's shoulders, giving him a gentle look as the frustration melted from his voice, replaced with compassion. "What's the point of bringing her back if she isn't coming back to you?"

"But you'll die."

Judas only shrugged, laughing a bit nervously. "I think I've lived long enough. Besides...there's no place for me without her."

The Doctor thought about his words for a moment. He knew he shouldn't listen. He knew it was selfish, but perhaps today, only today, he was allowed to be selfish.

"Thank you, for this."

Judas nodded, kneeling beside Rose as the Doctor stepped out of the way. He placed his hands carefully on either side of her face, looking at her for but a moment.

_Thank you, Rose Tyler._

As he closed his eyes, his hands began to glow with a yellowish energy. He couldn't help but feel that his Rose was there, standing right behind him. It was a comforting feeling, one that drew a smile from him.

There was a current that was passed to Rose from him, but there was also something of a doorway, where his memories were shared with her.

_"What if you wake up one day and decide that you don't want this?" _

_Judas looked at her in confusion. "Decide that I don't want what?"_

_She had gestured to the air. "This-travelling with me. You never just want to go back home?"_

_He had pulled her to himself, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You're my home, Rose. Wherever we go, I'm home."_

_She smiled up at him, then rested her head against his chest. _

Rose started to cough as the energy intensified, causing her to gasp for air.

_"Why can't you just let me be angry at you?" She had screamed at him, trying her best not to laugh._

_He threw his hands out. "Be mad-I'm not stopping you!" Then with a wicked grin on his face her grabbed her from behind, tickling her._

_"Stop it Judas! Just let me be angry!" She shrieked in laughter, knowing good and well she couldn't be angry at him._

Judas felt himself beginning to grow lighter, like he was being drained. Which he was-he was draining himself, giving up his regenerations and his life itself to Rose.

As the very last sparks of yellowish energy were leaving him, Judas fell to the side, his vision fading as he took in the purple sky once more. "I'm coming home...Rose..." The words dripped from his lips, his very last words.

And then he closed his eyes...for the last time.

Rose suddenly opened her eyes, taking in a large gulp of air as the Doctor wrapped his arms around her, calming her.

"Just breath, Rose. That's it-nice, deep breaths."

"But I saw them, Doctor. I saw Judas and the other Rose." She was trying to sort out the images that had just been running through her head. She didn't even see Judas yet, quiet and unmoving, laying on the ground...

"You saw memories, Rose. Memories shared between you and him..." The Doctor took her face in his hands gently, looking right at her as he spoke.

"He gave you something, Rose, something precious." He tried to explain to her, knowing that what he was going to say would break her heart. "You see, you had been shot, and you were dying. He gave up his regeraations and his life, to bring you back to me."

"What are you saying-" She nearly screamed as she broke free of the Doctor's grasp and turned to see Judas, seemingly asleep on the ground. But she knew-she knew he wasn't sleeping.

"Judas! Judas!" She screamed out, shaking him. Fresh tears trembled on the edge of her eyes, forced to run down her cheeks by her screaming.

"He's gone, Rose. He's gone." The Doctor whispered as he pulled her away from him. She slammed herself onto his chest, her cries muffled by his coat.

Madera and the rest of the High Council fell to their knees around them, bowing their heads in an act of respect. Judas had made the ultimate sacrifice, all for a race that they had deemed "inferior" to themselves. Madera could only shake her head-things would change after today. The rest of the Time Lords would remember Judas-remember his sacrifice.

Jack suddenly appeared in the distance, running toward them. He stopped when he noticed Judas, unmoving on the ground.

"What...what happened?"

Rose opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She buried her head back into the Doctor's coat.

"He gave his life for Rose...that's what happened." It took a few minutes, but the Doctor was finally able to answer.

The rooftop was swarming with a few different creatures, all of them in black uniforms with a large, white "51" inscribed on their helmets-agents of Proclomation Enforcement. While Jack had been chasing after Rassillon he had contacted them, let them know where he was and what was happening. His commander thought it best to send a few agents there.

"What will they do with his body?" Rose asked, finally able to speak as she gestured to the High Council, who were lifting Judas' body onto a large glass plate.

"He'll have a ceremony of the Highest Honours-then his body will be burned, and we'll not leave his side until the fire burns out." Madera answered her, placing her hand gently on Rose's shoulder before looking at Jack.

"What can we expect of you and your agents, Captain Harkness?" She narrowed her eyes at Jack, but hadn't interfered with them.

"It's just a routine investigation. We'll have to take Rassillon into custody, but I promise we won't harm him. I hope you understand."

Madera only nodded, without replying. She knew that Rassillon had committed murder-they all had, but since they hadn't interferred with the investigation, the Agency thought it best to just take Rassillon and leave the rest of the High Council out of it.

"And what about you Doctor?" Madera looked across at the Doctor. "What will you do now?"

"Oh I think we've seen enough of death around here. I think it's time we took a vacation-cleared our minds a bit." He nudged Rose, and she nodded in agreement.

"I see. May I wish you luck in your travels...and thank you again, Doctor." Those were the last words Madera spoke as she walked away, looking back over her shoulder one last time to look at the three of them.

Rose lifted her hand to the hand, waving the Time Lady good bye. Madera waved back, then followed behind Judas' body, disappearing from the roof.

The Doctor knew it was time to leave-this little pop around Gallifrey had turned into something the Doctor wished never to experience again. Though, at the same time he was glad he had got to meet Judas. He was proud of his parallel self, depsite the things that had happened before.

"Jack-need a lift back to Earth?"

Jack shook his head, watching the other agents around them. "I'll just catch a lift from one of those guys." He suddenly grabbed the Doctor around his neck and pulled him into a hug. "I'm glad I got to meet you, sir."

"Me too." The Doctor laughed, breaking away from Jack's hug as it lasted a little too long.

"You too Rose. Watch after this guy." He hugged Rose for a moment, wishing that things would have turned out different for her.

"Never a dull moment with you, Jack." Rose chuckled as she intertwined her fingers with the Doctor, and looked one last time in the direction they had taken Judas' body.

People always wanted to sacrifice for the Doctor. But she was different...why would anyone want to give up their life for her?

"You ready to go?" The Doctor's words broke through her thoughts, and as she looked up at him she smiled.

"Yeah."

And then the two of them were off, walking across the expanse of glass that was the rooftop of the Citadel. Both glad they had come, but both heartbroken at what was lost. But also, both knowing that if they had to chance, they would do it over again.

"In case you were wondering-it's because you're special." The Doctor said to her, seemingly out of the blue as they were walking away.

"What do you mean?" She asked in confusion.

"In case you were wondering why someone would sacrifice for you-it's because you're special, Rose Tyler."

Rose only shrugged her shoulders, not believing what he was saying.

"Like Judas said-in every dimension, the Doctor will always be with Rose Tyler. I love you." He squeezed her hand as he spoke.

"I love you too."


End file.
